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PRIMARY 
HISTORY 


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OF  THE 


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BOOK 


B  E  R  K 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 


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n&pck   Co- 


A  PRIMARY  HISTORY 


OF 


THE  UNITED   STATES 


BY 


JOHN   BACH   McMASTER 

PROFESSOR  OF  AMERICAN   HISTORY   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY 
OF   PENNSYLVANIA 


3XXC 


NEW   YORK  •:•  CINCINNATI  •:•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


Copyright,  1901,  by 
JOHN  BACH  McMASTER. 

fci'WTEBED  AT  STATIONERS'    HALL,    LONDOK 


MoM.  Pr.  H. 

E-P    5 


EDUC.- 

DSYCH. 

,  |  pf 


Em 

.  ■  -i 

A 

PREFACE 

0  rc\  ry 

This  book  has  been  written  in  the  belief  that  a  primary 
history  of  the  United  States  should  be  short,  as  interesting 
as  possible,  and  well  illustrated ;  that  it  should  be  a  narrative 
of  events,  not  a  series  of  biographical  sketches ;  that  it  should 
touch  on  all  matters  of  real  importance  in  the  founding  and 
building  of  our  country;  and  that  it  should  leave  unnoticed 
such  questions  as  are  beyond  the  understanding  of  the  pupils 
for  whose  use  it  is  intended.  Those  who  leave  school  after 
but  one  year's  work  in  history  will  thus  obtain  a  fair  general 
knowledge  of  so  much  of  our  history  as  every  American  ought 
to  be  ashamed  not  to  know,  while  those  who  pursue  the  study 
further  will  have  made  a  good  beginning. 

The  illustrations  are  historically  authentic.  Such  pictures 
are  far  more  valuable  than  imaginary  ones,  and  it  is  believed 
that  in  this  book,  as  in  the  School  History,  they  will  be  found 
to  be  more  interesting. 

The  pronunciation  of  difficult  names  is  shown  in  the  Index. 

JOHN   BACH  McMASTER. 
Philadelphia. 


403 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

I.     How  Europeans  found  America 7 

II.     The  Indians  and  their  Way  of  Life 16 

III.  The  Spaniards  in  the  South 24 

IV.  The    French    in    the    Valleys    of    the    St.   Lawrence    and    the 

Mississippi 31 

V.  The  English  in  Virginia          ........  44 

VI.     The  English  in  New  England 56 

VII.     Pioneer  Life  in  New  England 64 

VIII.     The  Middle  Colonies 72 

IX.     The  Southern  Colonies 83 

X.     Shall  France  or  England  rule  in  America  ? 89 

XL  Shall  France  or  England  rule  in  America?  (Continued)       .         .  100 

XII.  The  Colonies  quarrel  with  the  Mother  Country      .        .         .        .110 

XIII.  The  Long  Fight  for  Independence 120 

XIV.  The  Long  Fight  for  Independence  (Continued)     ....  134 
XV.     A  Better  Government  needed 144 

XVI.     Trouble  with  France  and  Great  Britain 150 

XVII.     Building  the  West 161 

XVIII.  The  Question  of  Slavery  begins  to  make  Trouble  .         .         .         .174 

XIX.  The  Discovery  of  Gold  and  the  Consequences        ....  182 

XX.     The  Slavery  Question  brings  on  Civil  War 190 

XXI.     The  War  for  the  Union  on  the  Land 195 

XXII.     The  War  for  the  Union  on  the  Water 206 

XXIII.  Rebuilding  the  Southern  States 213 

XXIV.  The  Rise  of  the  New  West 220 

XXV.     The  Close  of  the  Century 228 

XXVI.    The  Events  of  Recent  Years 237 

Index 245 

6 


PRIMARY  HISTORY 

CHAPTER   I 

HOW  EUROPEANS   FOUND   AMERICA 

Four  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  the  people  of  western  a  new  route 
Europe  were  getting  silks,  perfumes,  shawls,  ivoiy,  spices,  and  neededn 
jewels  from  southeastern  Asia,  then  called  the  Indies.  But  the 
Turks  were  conquering  the  countries  across  which  these  goods 
were  carried,  and  it  seemed  so  likely  that  the  trade  would  be 
stopped,  that  the  merchants  began  to  ask  if  somebody  could 
not  find  a  new  way  to  the  Indies. 

The  King  of  Portugal  thought  he  could,  and  began  sending 
his  sailors  in  search  of  a  way  around  Africa,  which  extended 
southward,  nobody  knew  how  far.  Year  after  year  his  ships 
sailed  down  the  west  coast,  the  last  captain  going  further 
south  than  the  one  before  him,  till  one  of  them  at  last  reached 
the  southern  end  of  the  continent  and  entered  the  Indian  Ocean. 
But  long  before  this  man  found  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the 
merchants  said  the  new  route  to  the  Indies  would  be  too  long, 

7 


HOW   EUROPEANS  FOUND   AMERICA 


Christopher 
Columbus 


§V^r         ^U'""""" 


The  Queen 

of  Spain        i       , 

helps  him 


■E*"!~2  "■'-' 


Birthplace  of  Columbus 


and  asked  the  question,  Can  not 
somebody  find  a  shorter  way? 
This  question  Christopher  Colum- 
bus tried  to  answer. 

Columbus  was  born  at  Genoa, 
in  Italy,  and  from  boyhood  was 
fond  of  the  sea,  fond  of  study,  and 
especially  fond  of  geography.  When 
he  was  fourteen  years  old,  he  went 
to  sea.  Now,  the  more  he  traveled, 
and  talked  with  sailors,  and  studied 
geography,  the  surer  he  became 
that  the  men  who  said  the  world  is 
round  were  right.  Very  few  people 
then  believed  this  ;  but  Columbus 
did,  and,  believing  it,  he  thought 
that  he  could  reach  the  Indies  by 
sailing  westward  over  the  oce?n  as 
well  as  by  traveling  eastward  over 
the  land. 

All  this  was  clear  enough  to  him; 
but  it  was  hard  to  make  others 
think  as  he  did,  and  years  passed 
before  he  succeeded.  He  went  to 
Portugal;  he  sent  his  brother  to 
England  ;  and  he  talked  and  argued 
for  eight  years  in  Spain  before  Queen 
Isabella  agreed  to  help  him.  Grit, 
self-reliance,  and  perseverance  won 
at  last,  and  he  set  out  for  the  little 
town  of  Palos,  in  Spain,  with  orders 
for  ships  and  sailors. 


HOW  EUROPEANS   FOUND   AMERICA 


9 


westward 


Little  won- 


When  it  was  known  at  Palos  what  the  Queen's  orders  were,  Columbus 
there  was  almost  a  riot.     The  Atlantic  Ocean,  on  which  Colum-  D 
bus  was  to  sail  —  an  ocean  which  is  now  crossed  every  year 
by  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children,  —  was  then  almost 
unknown.     Men  called  it  the  "  Sea  of  Darkness." 
der,  then,  that  the  people  of  Palos  were  dis- 
mayed when  they  heard  that  they  must 
furnish    ships    and   sailors  to  explore 
this  dreaded  ocean.     But  the  royal 
order  must  be  obeyed,  and  so  the 
officers  of  Palos  set  about   the 
matter.       Prisoners    were    set 
free   from  jail  if  they  would 
agree  to  go  with  Columbus- 
Other  men   had    debts   for- 
given them,  or  suits  at  law 
stopped,  if  they  too  would  go. 

Three  small  ships  or  car 
avels    were    seized    without 
the  owners'  consent.     In  the  ^  ~" 

largest,  called  the  Santa  Maria, 
Columbus   went.       Another    was 
the   Pinta.     The  smallest  was  called 
the  Nina,  which  means  Bahy.    On  board  the 
three  were  exactly  ninety  men. 

Just  before  sunrise  one  summer  morning,  the  little  fleet  set  The  voyage 
sail  on  the  greatest  voyage  of  discovery  made  by  man.  All 
sorts  of  terrors  filled  the  minds  of  the  sailors.  When  they  were 
at  the  Canary  Islands,  off  the  coast  of  Africa,  a  volcano  burst 
into  eruption,  and  they  were  sure  this  was  a  sign  of  bad  luck. 
When  the  last  of  the  Canaries  disappeared  behind  them,  they 
wept  and  wailed  as  if  their  hearts  would  break.      Then  the 


Santa  Maria 


10 


HOW  EUROPEANS  EOUND  AMERICA 


compass  needle  began  to  act  queerly,  and  they  were  sure  it  was 
bewitched.  Next  the  wind  for  days  blew  from  the  east,  and 
they  were  sure  they  would  never  be  able  to  sail  home  against 


Painting  by  li.  Balacu 


Departure  of  Columbus 


Columbus 
discovers  land 


it.  But  Columbus  calmed  their  fears,  explained  the  sights  they 
did  not  understand,  hid  from  them  the  true  distance  they  had 
sailed,  and  went  calmly  on. 

At  last  signs  of  land  began  to  appear.  Now  a  tuft  of  grass  ; 
now  some  seeds ;  now  a  branch  with  some  berries  on  it ;  now  a 
piece  of  wood  cut  and  carved  by  a  human  hand,  floated  by. 
Then  land  birds  flew  over  the  ship.  Finally,  one  night  in 
October,  Columbus  saw  a  light  moving,  as  if  somebody  were 
running  along  shore  with  a  torch.  Next  a  sailor  saw  land  dis- 
tinctly, and  then  all  saw  a  long,  low  beach  a  few  miles  distant. 
He  thought  it  Columbus  thought  he  had  reached  one  of  the  islands  of  the 

part  of  the  & 

indies  Indies,  and  early  the  next  morning  went  on  shore,  and  in  the 


HOW  EUROPEANS  FOUND  AMERICA 


11 


presence  of  his  men  took  possession  of  the  island  in  the  name  claims  the 
of  the  King  and  Qneen  of  Spain,  and  called  it  San  Salvador,  g^f* for 
which  means  Holy  Savior. 

At  the  sight  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  glittering  steel 
armor  and  bright-colored  clothes,  the  natives  fled  to  the  woods; 
but  finding  no  harm  was  done  them,  they  soon  gathered  about 
the  strangers,  gazed  at  them  in  wonder,  and  at  last  grew  bold 
enough  to  touch  the  whiskers,  hands,  and  faces  of  the  new- 
comers. The  natives  seemed  nearly  as  strange  to  the  Span-  The  natives 
iards.  Their  straight 
black  hair,  naked  copper- 
colored  bodies  painted, 
some  black,  some  white, 
some  red,  told  Colum- 
bus at  once  that  he  had 
found  a  people  quite 
unlike  the  curly-headed, 
black  negroes  of  Africa, 
and  made  him  feel  sure 
that  he  was  near  the 
island  of  Cipango,  a 
part  of  the  long-sought 
Indies. 

The  day  of  this  dis- 
covery was  October  12, 
1492,  and  the  island 
was  one  of  a  group  we 
know  as  the  Bahamas. 

After  giving  the  people  red  caps,  glass  beads,  hawk's  bells,  and 
other  trinkets,  and  receiving  in  return  parrots,  and  balls  of 
cotton  yarn,  Columbus  set  sail  to  explore,  and  reached  the 
coast  of  the  island  we  call  Cuba.     A  month  and  more  was  now  island 


Columbus  Point 

{First  land  seen  by  Columbus, 


1U92) 


Columbus 
finds  another 


12 


HOW  EUROPEANS  POUND  AMERICA 


Columbus 
finds  a 
third  island 


Armor  of  Columbus 


Returns  to 
Spain 


spent  sailing  along  its  shores.  The  Spaniards 
landed  here  and  there  to  seek  for  gold,  and  on 
one  occasion  Columbus  sent  a  party  of  men  into 
the  interior  to  search  for  a  great  city  and  a 
king  who  ate  from  dishes  of  gold.  But  the 
explorers  found  instead  little  villages  of  palm 
huts,  from  which  the  people  fled  as  they  ap- 
proached. 

At  this  stage  of  the  voyage,  Pinzon,  the 
captain  of  the  Pinta,  deserted  Columbus  and 
sailed  away  to  seek  for  gold  on  his  own  account. 
Columbus,  however,  went  on  along  the  coast  of  Cuba  to  the 
eastern  end  and  soon  beheld  another  island,  whose  beauty  so 
reminded  him  of  Spain  that  he  named  it  Hispaniola,  or  "  Little 
Spain." 

And  now  another  disaster  befell  him,  for  while  off  Hispan- 
iola, or  Haiti,  the  Santa  Maria,  with  Columbus  on  board,  was 
wrecked,  and  the  crew  were  forced  to  go 
on  shore.     The  natives  were  so  kind, 
and   the    life   of   idleness   so   enjoy- 
able, that  when  the  time  came  for 
Columbus  to  go  back  to  Spain 
the    sailors    begged   to   be   left 
behind.        Some    were    left    in 
charge   of   a  rude  fort,  and  so 
became  the  first  colony  of  Span- 
iards in  the  New  World,  though 
they  were  soon  killed. 

The  voyage  home  in  the 
Nina  was  a  stormy  one  :  again  and  again  the  little  ship  seemed 
about  to  sink,  but  in  time  it  reached  Palos  in  safety,  and 
Columbus  became   the  hero  of  the  hour.      Crowds  followed 


Kind  of  huts  Columbus  saw 


HOW   EUROPEANS   FOUND   AMERICA 


13 


Columbus  thought  he  had  reached  the  Indies 

him  wherever  he  went;  the  King  and  Queen  received  him 
with  great  honor  at  court,  listened  eagerly  to  all  he  said,  and 
gave  him  great  power  over  the  lands  he  had  discovered  or 
might  discover  ;  and  he  was  promptly  sent  on  a  second  voyage 
to  the  west. 

In  all,  Columbus  made  four  voyages,  discovered  Jamaica, 


But  a  continent  blocked  the  way  to  the  Indies 


14 


HOW   EUROPEANS  FOUND   AMERICA 


Porto  Rico,  the   islands   of   the  Caribbean 
Sea,  and  even  reached  the  coast  of  South 
America,  and  sailed  along  the  shores  of 
Honduras  and  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 
But  the  fact  that  he  had  discovered  a 
new   world,   that   a   great    continent 
blocked  his  way  to  India,  never  en- 
tered his  mind.     He  thought  he  had 
reached  Asia  and  some  islands  off  the 
coast  of  Asia,  and  so  the  lands  were 
called  the   Indies,  and  the  inhabitants 
Indians.       Long    afterwards,  when   his 
mistake  was  found  out,  these  islands  were 
named  West  Indies,  and  those  near  Asia 
East  Indies. 

As  soon  as  Columbus  had  shown  the 
way,  others  were  quick  to  follow,  and  the 
Explorers  new  coasts  were  visited  by  Spaniards,  Portuguese,  Frenchmen, 
and  Englishmen.     Notice  what  then  happened  : 


Statue  of  Columbus, 
Barcelona 


follow 
Columbus 


Results  of     2. 
exploration 


These  explorations  proved  that  not  the  coast  of  Asia,  but 
a  new  world,  had  been  found.  This  was  called  America, 
after  Amerigo  Vespucci,  an  Italian  who  explored  the 
coast  of  South  America  for  the  King  of  Portugal. 

When  it  was  shown  that  a  continent  blocked  the  way  to 
Asia,  a  search  was  begun  for  a  passage  through  or 
around  it. 

In  the  course  of  this  search,  first  for  a  southwest  passage, 
and  then  for  a  northwest  passage,  the  coast  of  America 
was  still  further  explored. 

These  explorations  gave  Spain,  France,  England,  and  Hol- 
land claims  to  parts  of  what  is  now  our  country. 


HOW  EUROPEANS  POUND  AMERICA 


15 


Painting 


Reception  of  Columbus  at  Barcelona 


SUMMARY 

1.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  the  people  of  western  Europe  were 

trading  with  the  East  Indies. 

2.  The  Turks  began  to  cut  off  this  trade,  and  the  merchants  of  Europe 

needed  a  new  route  to  the  East. 

3.  Columbus  (1492)  set  off  from  Spain  to  find  this  route  by  sailing  west- 

ward across  the  Atlantic. 

4.  He  landed  on  one  of  the  Bahama  islands,  discovered  Cuba  and  Plaiti,  and 

claimed  them  for  Spain. 

5.  Columbus  having  shown  the  way,  other  explorers  followed  him. 

6.  After  many  years  they  proved  that  not  India,  but  a  great  continent 

blocking  the  way  to  India,  had  been  discovered. 

7.  Then  came  attempts  to  find  a  way  around  it,  which  resulted  in  the  explo- 

ration of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  North  and  South  America. 


16 


THE   INDIANS   AND   THEIR    WAY   OF   LIFE 


The 
Indians 


Arms  and 
implements 


Indian  warrior 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  INDIANS  AND  THEIR  WAY  OF  LIFE 

When  the  first  white  men  came  to  our  shoras, 
they  found  the  country  thinly  inhabited  by  the 
people  Columbus  had  named  Indians.     They  had 
copper-colored  skin,  coarse,  jet-black  hair,  high 
cheek   bones,   thick    lips,  small    eyes,    and    no 
whiskers.       For   a   long    time   it   was   believed 
that   in   their  wars  with   the  whites   they  had 
become  greatly  reduced  in  number.     But  this  is 
not  the   case.      There  are  quite  as  many  liv- 

ing in  the  United  States  /My  to-day  as  then 
lived  in  the  same  terri-  AgW  t°ry.  Two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago,  the  In-  Mm?  dians  were  scattered 
all  over  the  country,  from  the  /W  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 
Now  few  dwell  east  of  the     /iSf       Mississippi    River ;    the 

great  mass  are  far  to  -,  ,jffr^  the  west  of  it#  A11  have 
greatly  changed  their  fj^ypF  mode  of  life,  and  many  have 
learned  to  live  like     /^^S^fe    white  men. 

The      Indians      /    ^SK^whom    the    early  settlers    met 
near  the  east  coast    /i|j^/^  nad  never  seen  a  gun,  nor  a  sword, 
nor  a  metal  knife,    ^^nor  an  ax.      They  killed  ani- 
mals   and    one     stone     another  with  stone  tomahawks 
or      hatchets,    arrowhead   and  stone-  or  bone-tipped 
arrows  which  they  shot  from  wooden  bows.     As 
they  knew  nothing  of  iron  or  steel  or  brass,  all 
their  tools  were  made  from  wood  or  stone  or 
the  bones  of  animals.     Thus,  out  of  fish  bones, 
they  made  fishhooks  and  needles,  and  out  of  flint, 
knives  and  hatchets.  Bone  fishhook 


THE   INDIANS   AND   THEIR    WAY    OF   LIFE 


17 


....■'• 


Making  a  birch-bark  canoe 


In  the  northern  part  of  our  country,  where  birch  trees 
were  abundant,  they  made  canoes  of  birch  bark,  sewing  it 
together  with  strips  of  deerskin,  and  covering  the  seams  with 
spruce  tree  gum  to  make  them  watertight.  In  the  South  they 
used  trunks  of  great  trees  hollowed  out  by  fire. 

Along    the    Atlantic    seaboard    the    country   was    heavily  Food 
wooded,  and  in  the  woods 
there     were     plenty     of 
deer,    elk,    bears,    foxes, 
wolves,    and    small    ani- 
mals, which  the  Indians  A  dusout 
hunted  and  killed  for  food.     West  of  the  Appalachian  Moun- 
tains was  the  region  of  the  great  treeless  prairies,  over  which 

MCM.  PR.  H. 2 


18 


THE   INDIANS  AND  THEIR   WAY   OF   LIFE 


Snowshoe 


The 

bark  house 


The 
wigwam 


roamed  immense  herds  of  bison  or  buffalo,  whose  meat, 
shaggy  hair,  and  hides  served  the  redskins  for  many 
purposes.      The   meat  was  dried  and  kept  for  food, 
the    hair   was    woven    into    cloth    or    twisted   into 
ropes,  and  the  hide  was  tanned  and  cut  into  ropes 
or  worn  as  a  blanket.      The  sea  or  the  rivers  sup- 
plied  fish,  beavers,  and  otters,  and    in   the    woods 
were  found  wild  turkeys,  and  berries  and  other  fruits. 
Besides  food  obtained  by  hunting  and  fishing,  many 
tribes    raised    Indian    corn,    beans,    pumpkins,    and 
squashes.     They   also    raised    tobacco.       Their    only 
domestic  animal  was  the  dog. 

A  tribe  was  a  number  of  Indians  speaking  the 
same  language,  and  generally  spread  over  a  wide 
region.  Each  tribe  was  divided  into  smaller  groups 
living  in  villages,  which  were  often  surrounded  by 
high  stockades  or  fences  for  purposes  of  defense.  Within  such 
walls  there  were  either  long  houses  of  bark,  in  each  of  which 
a  dozen  or  more  families  lived  together; 
or  wigwams,  in  which  single  families 
dwelt. 

A  wigwam  was  usually  made  by  thrust- 
ing thin  poles  into  the  ground  in  a  circle 
and  bending  the  tops  together  and  tying 
them.     Over  the  poles  were  then  placed 
bark  or  the  skins  of  animals,  especially 
buffalo  hide.     On  the  ground  in  the 
middle  of  the  wigwam  was  the  fire, 
the   smoke   of  which  went   out 
through   a  hole  in   the  top 
which  served  as  a  chimney. 
Matches     being     unknown,  Buffalo-skin  wigwam 


THE   INDIANS   AND   THEIR   WAY   OF   LIFE 


19 


Clay  bowl 


Wooden  dish 


the  Indian  lighted  his  fire  by  pressing  a  pointed  stick  against  Fire  and 
a  piece  of  wood  and  making  it  turn  around  rapidly.     To  give  cookmg 
it  this  motion  he  would  take  a  little  bow,  wrap  the  string  once 
around  the  stick,  and  move  the  bow  quickly  back  and  forth  till 
the  heat  produced  by  the  revolving  stick  set  fire  to  the  wood. 

Over  the  fire 
thus  made,  the  In- 
dian women  would 
broil  fish  laid  across 
sticks  raised  above 
the  flame,  and  in  the 
ashes  would  roast  corn,  squashes,  or  sweet  potatoes.  Such  as 
knew  how  to  make  clay  pots  would  put  them  on  the  fire  and 
boil  meat  and  vegetables  in  them.  Such  as  used  wooden  vessels 
filled  them  with  water  and  threw  in  hot  stones  till  the  water 
was  hot  enough  to  cook  whatever  they  wished.  Indian  corn 
when  dried  was  pounded  into  meal,  mixed  with  water,  and 
baked  in  the  ashes. 

Neither  men  nor  women  wore  much  clothing.      Deerskin  clothing 
moccasins    or    shoes    embroidered  with   shell 
beads  and  quills  of  the  porcupine,  deerskin 
leggings  (in  winter),  a  strip  of  deerskin 
about  the  waist,  and  a  deerskin  cloak 
over  the  shoulders  completed  the  dress 
of   the   men   in    northern   parts.      The 
women  wore  deerskin  aprons  and  beaver- 
skin  mantles.     In  the  South  mantles  were  woven  from  a  plant 
called  silk  grass.     About  the  neck  as  ornaments  were  claws  of 
bears,  eagles,  or  hawks,  and  strings  of  beads  made  from  sea- 
shells  and  called  wampum.     This  wampum  was  highly  prized 
and  was  used  not  only  for  ornament,  but  also  as  money,  and 
was  woven  into  belts  to  be  given  as  presents  when  treaties 


Moccasins 


20 


THE   INDIANS   AND   THEIR   WAY   OF   LIFE 


What  the 
men  did 


were  made.     Indeed,  for  many  years   after  the  colonies 

were  founded,  the  white  settlers  used  wampum  as  money. 

The  duty,  of   the  Indian  man,  or  "brave,"  was  to 

hunt,  fish,  and  fight.     He  would   make  arrows,  bows, 

canoes,  and  stone  tools,  but  he  thought  any  other  kind 

of  work  was  beneath  him.      No  young  Indian  was  of 

any  importance  till  he  had  killed  an  enemy  and  brought 

home    the   scalp ;    and    the    more    scalps    he    brought 

home,   the    greater   "  brave "    he    was   thought  to  be. 

As  the  scalp  was   the  proof  of  victor}^  each  warrior 

wore  a  scalp  lock  as  a  challenge  to 

his  enemies,  and  defended  it  with 

his    life.      The    lock  was    made 

by  shaving  the  hair   close  except 

on  the   crown  of  the  head,  where 

it  was  allowed  to  grow  long,  and 

was  ornamented  with  feathers. 

The    Indian's  way  of   fighting  was 

to    the  white    man    dishonorable.      The 

fair  and  open  fight  had  no  charm  for  the 

redskins.      To  their  minds  it  was  the  height 

of  folly  to    kill    an    enemy  at    the    risk    of 

their  own  lives,  when  they  might  shoot  the 

foe  from   behind  a  tree,  or  waylay  him  in 

Manner  of  ambush  as  he  hurried  along  a  forest  trail,  or  at  the 

fighting     dea(j  0f  night   rouse  their  sleeping  victims  with  the  hideous 

war  whoop   and  kill  them  in  cold  blood.      The  Indians  were 

very  skillful  in  laying  an  ambush,  that  is,  in  hiding  themselves 

so  that  they  could  attack  the  enemy  when  he  did  not  expect 

it.     Digging  up  the  hatchet  meant  preparing  for  war.     Going 

on   the  warpath   meant  waging  war.       Burying   the   hatchet 

*-         meant  making  peace. 


A  warrior's 
scalp  lock 


Wampum 


THE    INDIANS   AND   THEIR   WAY   OF   LIFE 


21 


Squaw  carrying 
papoose 


Labor  of  all  sorts  was  done  by  the  women,  or  what  the 
squaws."     They  planted  and  pounded  the  corn,  ^J^e/did 
brought    the   water,  dressed   the   skins,  made 
the  clothing,  and,  when  the  band  traveled  from 
one   place   to   another,  carried   the   household 
goods  and  belongings. 

Taking  care  of  the  children,  or  "  papooses," 
was  a  simple  matter.  Till  a  child  was  old 
enough  to  run  about,  it  was  carefully 
wrapped  up  in  skins  and  tied  to  a  wicker 
framework,  and  hung  up  on  the  branch 
of  a  tree,  or  leaned  against  the  trunk,  or  car- 
ried on  the  mother's  back.  Once  able  to  go 
alone,  the  boys  were  taught  to  shoot  with 
arrows  at  a  mark,  to  fish,  and  to  make  stone 
arrowheads  and  tools ;  and  the  girls,  to  weave, 
make  pottery  and  baskets,  and  do  all  the  things  they  would  be 
expected  to  do  as  squaws  or  wives  of  the  braves. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  our  country,  all  along  the  seaboard,  Indians  in 
the    Indians   lived   in  villages   and   wandered 
about  very  little.       Hunting  parties  and  war 
parties  traveled  great  distances,  but  each  tribe 
had  its  home.     Thus  the  Massachusetts  dwelt 
along  the  east  coast  of  our  state  of 
Massachusetts;   the    Pequots,   in   east- 
ern   Connecticut  ;     and    the    Iroquois, 
in  central  New  York.      So   it  was  in 
the     Ohio    valley.       But    on    the     great 
plains  of  the  Northwest  the  Indians  were 
wanderers,    having   no    fixed   homes,   but 
roving  the  plains  with  their  women,  chil- 
dren, and  all  their  belongings.  Papoose 


22 


THE   INDIANS  AND   THEIR   WAY   OF  LIFE 


Indians  in  In  the   far  Southwest,  where   are   now  Arizona   and   New 

wes  Mexico,  dwelt  still  another  sort  of  Indians.  They  did  not 
live  in  wigwams  of  skin,  or  huts  of  bark,  but  in  great  fort- 
like houses  of  adobe,  or  sun-baked  clay.  These  houses  the 
Spaniards  called  pueblos,  a  word  meaning  villages  or  towns, 
for  they  were  really  huge  hotels  in  each  of  which  lived  the 
people  of  a  whole  village.  Some  were  two,  some  were  four, 
and  one  seven  stories  high.  The  second  story  was  set  back 
from  the  first,  the  third  from  the  second,  and  the  fourth  from 
the  third,  thus  leaving  in  front  of  each  story  a  broad  space  like 
a   street.      There  were   no  doors.      The    Indians   climbed   by 

ladders   from  story  to  story,  and 
entered  the  pueblo  through  holes 
in     the     roofs     of    the    different 
stories. 

Many    of    the    pueblos    which 

were     standing    when     the 

white  man   first  saw  these 

Indians,   more    than    three 


hundred    years    ago,    have 
since  then  crumbled  away. 
But  the   Indians   of    to-day 
still  live  in  the  same  sort  of 
houses,  little  changed  in  appear- 
ance.    Several  such  pueblos  may  be 
seen    in    the    southwestern    part    of    our 
country.     Now,  these  houses  have  doors;  but 

_  _  , .      the  Indians  still  go  from  story  to  story  by  lad- 

Zuni  woman  making  °  J  J      J 

pottery  ders.     Now,  the  Indians  have  flocks  and  herds, 

obtained  of  course  from  the  Spaniards,  who  first 

brought  horses,  hogs,  and  cows  to  our  country.      They  raise 

corn,  wheat,  barley,  and  fruit,  make  pottery,  spin  and  weave 


THE   INDIANS   AND   THEIR   WAY   OF   LIFE 


23 


A  pueblo 


cloth,  and  make  baskets.  Yet  they  are  the  same  kind  of 
Indians  that  the  Spaniards  met  when  they  first  entered  the 
land  that  is  now  the  United  States. 


SUMMARY 

1.  When  Columbus  discovered  America  he  thought  he  was  on  the  coast  of 

the  Indies,  and  called  the  inhabitants  Indians. 

2.  At  that  time  they  lived  all  over  our  country ;  now  most  of  them  live  in 

the  West. 

3.  They  knew  nothing  of  iron  and  steel,  and  made  their  hatchets,  knives, 

fishhooks,  etc.,  out  of  stone  or  bones,  and  their  canoes  of  bark  or  tree 
trunks. 

4.  They  lived  by  hunting,  fishing,  and  growing  Indian  corn,  beans,  pumpkins, 

and  squashes.     West  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains  were  many  buf- 
faloes, which  the  Indians  hunted. 


24 


THE   SPANIARDS  IN  THE   SOUTH 


5.   Horses,  cows,  sheep,  and  pigs  were  unknown  to  the  Indians.     They  had 
dogs,  and  wild  turkeys  from  which  our  tame  turkeys  are  descended. 
Most  of  the  labor  was  done  by  the  squaws.     The  braves  did  little  else 

than  hunt,  fish,  and  fight. 
The  Indians  in  the  eastern  part  of  our  country  did  not  wander  much  ; 
but  the  Indians  of  the  plains  were  rovers. 
8.  In  the  Southwest  were  the  Pueblo  Indians. 


6. 


7. 


>>»<< 


CHAPTER   III 


Ponce  de 

Leon's 

search 


THE   SPANIARDS   IN  THE    SOUTH 

The  Spaniards  following  in  the  track  of  Columbus  took 
possession  of  Cuba  and  Haiti,  Porto  Rico,  and  the  other  West 
Indies,  and  sent  explorers  from  these  islands  (map,  p.  43). 

One  of  these  Spaniards,  Ponce  de  Leon,  got  it  into  his  head, 
from  something  the  Indians  told  him,  that  on  an  island  to  the 

northward    was    a    fountain    of 

youth,  and  that  whoever  drank  of 

its  waters  would  never  grow  old. 

Nothing  would  do  but  he  must 

find  it,  and  with   his  king's 


leave  he  accordingly  set 
out  from  Porto  Rico.  On 
Easter  Sunday,  which  in 
Spanish  is  Pascua  Florida, 
he  came  in  sight  of  a  coast 
which,  in  memory  of  that 
day,  has   ever    since    been 

Discovers  called    Florida.       He   landed   near   the   present   town    of   St. 

Florida  Augustine,  and,  not  finding  his  fountain  of  youth,  turned 
back.      Later  he  tried  again,  but  the  Indians  drove  him  off. 


Spanish  treasure  ships 


THE    SPANIARDS    IN   THE    SOUTH 


25 


He  called  it  the  ^s  for 


—  .>-. 


Spanish  soldier 


Another  Spaniard,  while  sailing  along  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  Narvaez 

*■  •      •       •     t->  •  TT  -n-i-iji-    seeks  fo 

of  Mexico,  entered  the  Mississippi    River 
River   of   the   Holy   Spirit,   and   brought   back    such 
wondrous  stories  of  the  Indians  and  their  gold  orn 
ments  that  a  third  Spanish  soldier,  named  Narvaez, 
sailed  from   Spain  to  occupy  the   country  which 
seemed  so  rich  in  gold.     With  several  hundred 
reckless  followers  at  his  back,  he  landed  on 
the  west  coast  of  Florida,  and,  leaving  his       i 
ships,  marched  inland. 

But  as  he  pushed  on  through  the  woods 
and  swamps,  food  grew  scarce  and  some  of 
his  men  died  of  hunger.  Hostile  Indians 
shot  others  from  behind  trees  and  bushes. 
Swamps,  lakes,  and  many  streams  made  prog- 
ress slow,  and  more  soldiers  died  of  fevers. 
At  last  the  army,  with  ranks  thinned  by  hunger,  sickness,  and 
fights  with  the  red  men,  turned  back  and  reached  the  coast 
far  to  the  west  of  their  ships. 

Bv  dint  of  ereat  labor  five  rude  boats  were  made  and  launched,  Meets 

J  «     -,        -i         ->  ,     ,  i  4-   disaster 

and  in  these  what  was  left  of  the  band  put  to  sea  and  went 
westward.       But  their  sufferings  at  sea  were  as  great  as  on 

land.  Storms  scattered  and 
wrecked  the  boats.  Two 
of  them  with  all  on  board 
went  down.  The  others 
crossed  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  where  it  rushes 
into  the  Gulf,  and  were 
driven  on  what  the  explor- 
ers called,  truly  enough,  Misfortune  Island. 

There  they  passed  the  winter,  and  in  the  spring  those  who 


Spanish  cannon 


26 


THE   SPANIARDS  IN  THE   SOUTH 


Sees 
1  •  hunch 
back 
cows  ' ' 


were  still  alive,  sixteen  in  number,  determined  to  escape.  But 
when  the  time  came  to  go,  several  were  too  sick  to  move  and 
were  left  behind.  The  rest  reached  the  mainland  somewhere 
in  Texas,  and  all  save  three  were  slain  by  the  Indians.  Of 
the  men  left  on  the  island  one  died,  another  disappeared,  and 
vaca  another,  named  Vaca,  lived  six  horrible  years  among  the 
m  Texas  in(jians#  jje  was  passe(j  about  from  tribe  to  tribe.  He  was 
sometimes  a  slave,  sometimes  an  outcast,  always  a  nuisance 
to  the  poor  savages.  He  could  not  be  a  warrior  because  he 
was  too  weak.  He  could  not  gather  wood  or  draw  water  be- 
cause none  but  women  did  such  things.  He  could  not  hunt 
because  he  did  not  know  how  to  track  animals.  He  could 
walk,  however,  and  would  wander  off  and  trade  with  the 
northern  Indians.  He  would  take  shells  and  shell  beads  from 
the  seashore  tribes  and  exchange  them  for  skins,  red  clay,  and 

flint  with  the  northern 
inland  tribes. 

In     the    course    of 

these      trading      trips 

Vaca  saw  "hunchback 

cows."    They  were  the 

bison  or  buffalo  then  roaming 

by  millions  over  the  plains,  and 

he  was  the   first   European  to 

see  them.     But  he  also  heard  of  his 

three  companions,  and  at  last  found 

them.    These  four  wretched  beings, 

all  that  were  left  of  the  many  whom 

Narvaez  had  led  in  search  of  gold 

and  conquest,  then  tried  to  escape 

from  the  Indians.     After  several  months,  led  by  Vaca,  they 

succeeded,  and  set  out  toward  the  west.     Their  way  was  across 


- 


Buffalo 


THE   SPANIARDS   IN  THE   SOUTH 


27 


Texas,  and 


as  they  went  on  from  tribe  to  tribe, 

noticed   that   the    Indians   they   met   were 

more  and  more   civilized.      The  tribes  on 

the  coast  were  wanderers,  living  on  roots, 

berries,  and  fish,  and   had  little  clothing. 

Far  back  from  the  coast,  the  Indians 

dwelt  in  sod  houses,  raised  beans  and 

pumpkins,  and  wore  cotton  clothes 

which  they  washed  with  a  soapy 

root. 

Once  the  four  Spaniards  met 
a  native  with  the  buckle  of  a 
sword  belt  hung  around  his  neck, 
who  told  them  of  white  men  like 
themselves.  Then  they  met  a 
band  of  Spaniards,  and  aided  by 
them  pushed  on  till  they  came  to 
the  west  coast  of  Mexico,  and  wandering  down  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf  of  California,  reached  a  Spanish  town.  They  had 
walked  across  our  continent  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
Gulf  of  California. 

When  the  Spanish  ruler 
of  Mexico  heard  the  wonder- 
ful story  of  Vaca,  he  sent 
another  explorer,  Brother 
Marcos,  to  find  out  more 
about  the  country  of  which 
Vaca  had  so  much  to  tell. 
As  Marcos  trudged  along 
he  came  to  an  Indian  village 
where  he  was  told  of  seven       The  buffalo  ag  the  Spaniards  drew  him 

Wonderful  Cities  with  houses  {From  an  old  print) 


they   Wanders 
westward 


Spanish  armor 


28 


THE   SPANIARDS  IN  THE   SOUTH 


Coronado 
in  the 
Southwest 


of  stone.  Following  the  directions  given,  he  started  off,  and 
on  the  western  edge  of  New  Mexico  came  upon  the  seven 
pueblos  of  Zuhi. 

A  pueblo,  as  we  have  said,  was  a  very  large  house  of  adobe 
or  sun-baked  clay,  several  stories  high,  and  holding  a  great 
many  people.  Some  pueblos  were  high  forts  big  enough  to  hold 
an  entire  tribe.  Some  were  built  on  the  plains ;  others  were 
perched  on  cliffs  that  rose  high  above  the  plain. 

But  Marcos  had  no  more  than  a  glimpse  of  one  of  them ; 
for  the  Zuhi  killed  one  of  his  party  there,  and  he  hurried 
back  home.  What  he  saw  was  enough  to  make  others  want 
to  see  more.  All  the  reckless  and  adventure-loving  spirits 
were  eager  to  conquer  this  wonderful  country  with  its  seven 
cities.      So  the  governor  of  Mexico  sent  them  off  under  Coro- 


nado with  orders  to  stay 
they  had  found  the  seven 
went     along      as     guide. 


and  never  come  back  until 
wonderful  towns.  Marcos 
Working  their  way  on  foot 
across  the  great  dry 
plains,  the  party  came 
to  the  Zuhi  pueblos 
and  captured  them, 
and  then  sent  out  men 
to  visit  the  towns  near 

by- 

One  of  these  parties 
came  to  a  "sky  city" 
called  Acoma,  perched  on  the  summit  of  a  lofty  mass  of  rock 
whose  sides  rise  like  the  walls  of  a  room  for  three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  above  the  level  plain.  There  was  only  one  entrance, 
by  a  kind  of  stairway,  and  at  the  top  of  this  was  a  great  pile 
of  huge  stones  ready  to  be  rolled  down  on  the  heads  of  any 
enemy  who  might  attempt  to  climb  up.     Not  very  far  away  on 


Zuni  woman  weaving  a  belt 


THE   SPANIARDS  IN  THE    SOUTH 


29 


the  plain  was  a  town,  or  fort,  which  had  seven  stories,  and 
near  this  another,  of  four  stories,  now  in  ruins. 

Winter  coming  on,  the  Spaniards  marched  to  what  was  then 
a  pueblo,  but  is  now  a  pretty  village  on  the  Rio  Grand( 
in  New  Mexico,  and  there  passed  the  winter. 

When  spring  came,  Coronado  set  off  north- 
eastward in  search  of  a  land  which  the  Indians 
told  him  was  rich  in  gold.  In  his  search  he 
wandered  across  the  dry  plains  into  what 
is  now  Kansas.  He  crossed  miles  and  miles 
of  sun-baked  plains  with  scarcely  a  tree  on 
them ;  he  saw  thousands  and  thousands  of 
buffalo  ;  he  met  bands  of  fierce  roaming  Indi- 
ans ;  but  he  found  no  city  and  no  gold,  and 
went  back  disheartened  to  Mexico,  where  the 
governor,  angry  at  his  return,  punished  him. 

In  the  West  the  Spaniards  had  thus  explored 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  and  had  reached  Kansas. 

While  Coronado  and  his  men  were  searching  for  a  golden  De  Soto 
city  on  the  plains  of  the  Southwest,  De  Soto  was  making  a  like  g^heast 
search  in  the  swamps  and  forests  of  the  South.  Landing  in 
Florida,  he  led  his  men  across  Florida,  Georgia,  Alabama,  and 
Mississippi  to  the  Mississippi  River,  crossed  it,  and  somewhere 
on  the  western  bank  died  of  fever.  His  followers  buried  him 
at  night  in  the  great  river,  and,  having  built  boats  as  quickly 
as  possible,  floated  downstream  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
coasted  westward  along  Texas  to  Mexico. 

The  death  of  De  Soto  on  the  Mississippi  and  the  return  of  claims  of 
Coronado  to  Mexico  took  place  just  fifty  years  after  the  dis-  Spain 
covery   of    the    New    World   by    Columbus.      What   had   the 
Spaniards    done    in    our    country    during   this   half    century  ? 
Ponce  de  Leon,  De  Soto,  and  others  had  explored  the  country 


A  Mexican  Indian 


30 


THE   SPANIARDS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


from  Florida  to  the  Mississippi ;  and  Coronado  and  other 
Spaniards  had  marched  over  much  of  the  land  in  the  South- 
west. By  right  of  discovery  and  exploration,  Spain  thus 
secured  a  claim  to  all  the  southern  part  of  our  country.     But 

as  yet  the  Spaniards 
had  not  founded  a 
city  nor  a  town  nor 
so  much  as  a  village 
anywhere  within  the 
limits  of  what  is  now 
our  country  ;  and 
many  years  went  by 
before  they  began  to 
build  the  first  towns, 
—  St.  Augustine  in 
Florida  and  Santa  Fe 
The  oldest  house  in  Santa  Fe  in  New  Mexico. 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  Spaniards,  having  taken  possession  of  Cuba,  Haiti,  and  Porto  Rico, 

began  to  explore  the  mainland. 

2.  Ponce  de  Leon  discovered  and  named  Florida,  but  was  driven  out  by  the 

Indians.  A  little  later  Narvaez  led  an  army  into  Florida,  but  was 
driven  out,  and  sailing  westward,  was  wrecked ;  soon  only  four  of  his 
men  were  left  alive. 

3.  These  four  made  a  wonderful  march  across  the  continent  from  the  Gulf 

of  Mexico  to  the  Gulf  of  California. 

4.  After  hearing  their  story,  the  governor  of  Mexico  sent  out  an  explorer 

who  discovered  the  Zuni  pueblos.  This  expedition  was  followed  by 
the  more  remarkable  one  of  Coronado. 

5.  De  Soto  and  his  men  wandered  from  Florida  northwestward    and  dis- 

covered the  Mississippi  River. 

6.  All  this  gave  Spain  a  claim  to  what  is  ROW  'the  southern  part  of  the 

United  States. 


THE   FRENCH  IN  THE   ST.  LAWRENCE    VALLEY 


31 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  VALLEYS  OF  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  AND 

THE   MISSISSIPPI 

The   time    was   now   at   hand  when,  ^__ 

in  addition  to  Spain,  another  European 
nation  was  to  lay  claim  to  parts  of  our 
country. 

Very  soon  after  Columbus  made  his 
famous  voyage,  the  fishermen  of  the  west 
coast  of  France  crossed  the  Atlantic  in 
search  of  new  fishing  grounds.  Sailing 
westward,  they  came  to  the  shores  of 
Newfoundland  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence (map,  p.  43),  and  found  that  the 
sea  there  was  full  of  codfish. 

A  great  fishing  industry  grew  up,  and 
year  after  year  little  fleets  of  fishing  boats 
went  back  and  forth  between  France  and 
America.  While  the  Spaniards  were  hunt- 
ing for  gold  mines  and  a  fountain  of  youth,  the  French  were  French 
catching  codfish,  which  readily  sold  for  gold  in  the  Old  World  fisheries 
markets.     They  had  found  a  real     ^  ^    gold  mine  in  the  sea. 


For  a  time  France 
made  no  attempt  to 

explore  America  ;  she  could  not,  however,  long  remain 
inactive  while  every  year  added  to  the  possessions  and 
glory  of  Spain,  so  at  last  a  great  French  sailor,  named  Cartier, 
was  sent  to  find  a  northwest  passage  to  the  Indies. 


Costume  of  a  French 
gentleman 


Cartier 
discovers  the 
St.  Lawrence 


The  Indian 
village 


THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  VALLEY 

Following  the  way  taken  by  the  French  fisher- 
men, he  sailed  north  of  the  island  of  Newfound- 
land, crossed  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  entered 
the  river  of  the  same  name.  Going  up  this 
river,  he  came  to  the  cliffs  now  crowned  by  the 
city  of  Quebec,  and  found  them  occupied  by  a  few 
bark  cabins.  The  Indians  who  lived  there  were 
delighted  to  see  the  French,  and  told  them  of  a 
greater  town  far  up  the  river  ;  but  urged  them 
not  to  go  on. 

Cartier,  however,  with  a  few  sailors  in  small 
boats,  went  on  till  he  came  near  the  spot  where  now 
stands  the  city  of  Montreal.  There  he  beheld 
crowds  of  Indians,  who  danced,  and  sang,  and 
paddled  out  to  greet  him  in  canoes  loaded  with 
corn  and  fish. 
Led  by  the  delighted  red  men,  Cartier  and  his  band  landed 

and  marched  through  the  dense  forest  to  a  clearing,  where,  in 

the  midst  of  cornfields,  stood  the  Indian  village.     Around  it 

was  a  high  fence  or  stockade  of  tree  trunks. 

Passing   through  the  narrow  entrance,  the  French  found 

themselves  in  an  open 

space    surrounded    by 

long   houses   of    bark, 

from     which     women 

and  children  came  in 

crowds.   They  touched  - 

the    whiskers    of    the 

men,    and    felt     their 

faces  and  their  strange 

armor. 

Then     the     women  Indian  long  house  of  bark 


Indian  bow,  arrows 
and  quiver 


THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  VALLEY 


33 


Quebec 

{From  an  old  print) 


and  children  were  pushed  aside,  and  the  lame,  the  old,  and  the 
blind  were  brought  to  be  touched  and  healed  by  the  white 
strangers,  whom  the  Indians  thought  to  be  gods.  >.-^~ 

After    an    exchange    of    presents,   Cartier 
sailed  back  to  the  site  of   Quebec,  and  ii 
the    early  summer   of    the    next   year 
went    home    to    France.       Because    of 
this  voyage  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
French  King  now  claimed  the  country 
round   about   that   river,   and  made   some 
attempts    to     settle    it.       But    one    after 
another     they    failed,    until,    after     many 
years,  Champlain  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  founded  champiain 
Quebec  (1608).     He  made  friends  with  the  neighboring  Indi-  1°™^ 
ans,  who,  when  they  saw  the  wonderful  things  the  French  could 
do  with  their  guns,  begged  him  to  go  with  them  to  fight  the 
Iroquois  Indians,  who  lived  in  what  is  now  central  New  York. 

So  with  them  Champlain  went  to  the  lake  which  now  bears 
his  name,  and  there  one  night  beheld  in  the  distance  a  mass 
of   dark   moving   objects  which   he   knew  to  be    canoes  filled 

with  the  foe. 

■ 

fa 


The    Iroquois    at   Champlain 

once    made 


Defeat  of  the  Iroquois  at  Lake  Champlain 

{From  an  old  print) 
McM.  PR.  H. 3 


for  the  fndthe 

Iroquois 

shore  and  passed 
the  night  in  putting 
up  such  rude  de- 
fenses as  they  could. 
In  the  morning  the 
Canadian  Indians 
landed  and  marched 
into  the  forest  till 
they  came  near  their 


34 


THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  VALLEY 


Early  French  pistol 


Hatred  of 
Iroquois 


French 
missionaries 


enemy.  Champlain  then  advanced,  and  fired  his  musket.  The 
woods  rang  with  the  report.  One  chief  fell  dead,  and  another 
rolled  on  the  ground  wounded. 
Then  arose,  says  Champlain,  a 
yell  like  a  thunderclap,  and  the 
air  was  full  of  whizzing  arrows. 
But  when  another  and  another 
gunshot  came  from  the  bushes,  the  Iroquois  fled  like  deer. 
They  had  never  seen  nor  heard  a  musket  before,  and  did  not 
understand  what  it  was.  They  only  knew  that  it  suddenly 
made  a  terrible  noise  and  smoke  and  that  at  the  same  time  one 
or  more  of  their  men  fell  down  dead  or  wounded. 

The  musket   of  the  white  man  had  done  its  work.      The 

victory  was  won,  but  it  made 
the     Iroquois     hate     the 
French    for    many   years 
afterward.      These    Indi- 
ans  lived    in    the   region 
south    of    Lake    Ontario 
and  were  the  fiercest  and 
most  powerful  tribes  in  America. 
!(/    Because  of  the  hatred  of  the  Iroquois, 
&   the    French    never    made    settlements 
south    of   Lake   Ontario ;    but   pushed 
their  explorations  westward  across  Canada 
to  Lake  Huron  and  beyond. 

First  of  French  explorers  went  brave 
Catholic  priests  and  missionaries.  With  cru- 
cifix, Bible,  and  altars  on  their  backs,  they 
walked  through  forests  and  paddled  up 
rivers  where  no  white  man  had  been  before,  building  bark 
chapels  in  the  woods,  and  trying  to  teach  and  convert   the 


French  priests  journeying 
through  the  wilderness 


THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  VALLEY 


35 


French  soldier 


natives.     The  Indians  were  often  hostile  and  some- 
times  treated   the   missionaries  with  great  cruelty, 

even  burning  them  to  death;  but  neither  these 

savage  foes  nor  the  cold  of  winter,  neither 

hunger  nor  the  hardships  of  the  wilderness, 

could  stop  the  brave  and  devoted  priests. 
For  half  a  century  after  the  founding  of 

Quebec,   French   settlers  came  to  Canada  but 

slowly.     Then  the  King  of  France,  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  welfare  of  Canada,  began  to  send 

over  at  least  three  hundred  men  a  year.      By 

and  by  shiploads  of  young  women  came,  that 

every  unmarried  man  might  have  a  wife. 

The  life  of  an  early  colonist  was  a  hard  one. 

His  home  was  a  log  hut.     His  food  and  that  of 

his  family  was  such  vegetables  as  he  could  Early  French 
raise  on  the  little  piece  of  land  he  had 
cleared  of  trees,  such  game  as  he  could  kill, 
and  eels,  fresh  in  the  summer,  but  smoked 
and  dried  in  winter.  During  the  long,  cold 
season  of  ice  and  snow  he  cut  timber  and 
made  planks  and  shingles  which  he  ex- 
changed at  Quebec  for  clothing  and  other 
articles  he  must  have,  as  powder,  bullets, 
tools. 

Besides  encouraging  farming,  the  gov- 
ernment tried  to  get  more  people  engaged 
in  fishing  for  cod  and  in  catching  whales. 
But  the  only  sort  of  trade  that  really  flour- 
ished in  Canada  was  the  trade  with  the 
Indians  for  furs.  Everybody  wanted  to 
buy  and  sell  beaver  skins.      Each  year  a 


settlers 


The  fur  trade 


Costume  of  French 
woman 


36 


THE  FRENCH  IN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  VALLEY 


Flintlock  pistol  and  powder  horn 


Coureurs  de 
bois 


great  fair  was  held  at  Montreal  to  which  the  Indians  came 
by  the  hundred  from  the  western  lakes  in  their  bark  canoes. 
Merchants  from  Quebec  and  Mont- 
real would  arrange  their  goods 
along  the  outside  of  the  palisades, 
and  their  bright-colored  cloth, 
beads,  blankets,  kettles,  and  knives 
were  exchanged  for  beaver  skins. 

All  these  merchants  had  to 
obey  the  orders  of  the  King's  officers ;  and  the  officers  used 
their  power  unfairly,  and  so  got  nearly  all  the  profits  of  the 
fur  trade.  Numbers  of  hardy  young  men,  therefore,  took  to 
the  woods  and  traded  with  the  Indians  far  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  officers.  In  hope  of  stopping  this,  the 
governor  forbade  any  one  to  trade  with  the 
savages  in  the  forest  unless  he  had  permission, 
which  he  must  buy  from  the  governor.  Some 
merchants  obeyed,  and  paid  the  price.  But 
the  young  men  went  on  trading  as  before.  By 
so  doing  they  became  outlaws,  and  if  caught, 
might  be  whipped  and  marked  with  a  red-hot 
iron.  But  they  were  not  often  caught,  for 
they  lived  with  the  Indians,  and  seldom  went 
near  the  white  settlements.  They  were  called 
wood  rangers,  or  coureurs  de  bois.  They  built 
forts  at  many  places  in  the  West  and  North- 
west. One  of  these  early  forts  was  at  Detroit. 
But  their  great  meeting  place,  and  the  center 
of  the  beaver  trade,  was  a  mission  station  on 
the  Strait  of  Mackinac,  where  Lake  Michigan 
Missions  joins  Lake  Huron.  From  there,  in  twos  and  threes,  they  would 
and  forts  ge^  f0Tfa  an(j  roam  the  forests,  trapping  beaver. 


Wood  ranger 


THE   FRENCH   IN  THE   MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY 


37 


Great  Lakes 


The  wood  rangers  often  married  Indian  women,  and  this 
went  a  long  way  to  make  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  friendly 
toward  the  French.  The  English,  on  the  other  hand,  fought  the 
Indians  and  did  not  marry  into  their  tribes. 

As  the  priests  and  traders  went  further  and  further  westward,  French  on 
they  planted  trading  posts,  stockaded  forts,  and  mission 
stations  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  Lake  Michigan, 
and   Lake    Superior,   and   explored  all   the   country  ,   \ 
round  about.     Our  Central  States  are  covered  with 
French  names,  which  con-  stantly    remind    us 

that  France  once  owned  i 
great  part  of  our  country. 

When,  in  the  course 
of  their  wander-  m  ^ 
ings,  the  priests  /:<Jj|§ 
and  trad- 
ers reached 
the  country  about 
Lake  Superior 
and  Lake  Michi-  \ 
gan,  they  began 
to  hear  of  a  river  so  great  and 
long  that  the  Indians  called  it  Mississippi  or  "the  Father  of 
Waters."  Might  not  this  be  the  long-sought  passageway  to 
the  Indies  ?  the  French  asked  themselves.  In  hopes  that  it 
Avas,  two  men  whose  names  ought  to  be  remembered,  —  Father  Father 
Marquette,  a  priest  who  had  founded  the  Mackinac  mission,  Mar<iuette 
and  Joliet,  a  soldier,  —  were  sent  to  find  the  Father  of  Waters 
and  follow  it  to  the  sea. 


Shooting  the  rapids 


1  Among  names  of  French  origin  are  Joliet,  Duluth,  Terre  Haute,  Carondelet, 
La  Salle,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Prairie  du  Chien,  Detroit,  Vincennes,  St.  Louis,  and 
New  Orleans. 


38 


THE   FRENCH  IN  THE   MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY 


Marquette 
on  the 
Mississippi 


They  set  out  one  spring  day  from  Mackinac 
Strait  with  five  companions  in  two  birch  canoes, 
paddled  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Michi- 
head  of  Green  Bay,  and 
made  their  way,  with 
;  the  help  of  friendly  In- 
dians, to  a  large  river 
flowing  to  the  west. 
All  along  their  route 
the  Indians  would  have 
stopped  them,  and  told 
them  stories  of  fierce  tribes 
that  lived  on  the  great 
river,  of  a  devil  that  would 
drown  them  in  a  deep  hole 
where  he  dwelt,  of  monsters  that 
would  destroy  their  ca- 
noes, and  of  heat  that  could 
not  be  endured.  But  Mar- 
quette was  not  to  be  frightened, 
and  pushed  boldly  out  on  this 
westward-flowing  river,  which  he  named  the  Wis- 
consin. After  seven  days  they  came  to  its  mouth, 
and  saw,  rushing  across  their  way,  the  rapid  cur- 
rent of  the  Mississippi. 

Turning  southward,  the  explorers  paddled  and 
floated  down  the  great  river  till  they  reached  an 
Indian  village  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Arkan- 
sas. There,  suddenly,  they  beheld  a  fleet  of  war 
canoes  dart  out  from  the  shore  to  cut  them  off. 
Marquette  now  waved  the  peace  pipe  given  him  by 
some  friendly  Indians  as  a  safeguard.     But  at  first 


Voyage  of  Marquette 
and  Joliet 


Peace  pipe 


THE   FRENCH  IN  THE   MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY 


39 


turns  back 


no  heed  was  paid  to  it,  and  the  young  warriors  would  have  killed 
him  had  not  the  old  men  shouted  to  them  from  the  shore. 

Marquette  and  his  party  were  then  allowed  to  land,  were  well  Marquette 
treated,  and  the  next  day  went  on  down 
the  river  to  another  town,  where  the 
Indians  warned  them  to  go  no  further. 
There  the  travelers  stopped,  and,  turn- 
ing back,  made  their  way  slowly  north- 
ward to  Green  Bay. 

The  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  River 
by  Marquette  and  Joliet  was  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  French.  Yet  many  years 
went  by  before  La  Salle  finished  their 
work  by  following  the  river  to  its  mouth. 

The  report  brought  back  by  Joliet 
and  Marquette  convinced  La  Salle  that 
the  great  river  they  had  discovered  and 
explored  flowed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  filled  him  with  an  intense  desire  to 
have  his  countrymen  own  the  splendid 
valley  down  which  it  went.  He  would 
lead  them  away  from  cold  and  barren 
Canada,  into  the  rich  and  pleasant  region 
of  the  Mississippi.  He  would  secure  its 
trade,  its  wealth,  for  France  alone,  and  would  see  it  dotted  LaSaiie's 
with  cities  and  villages  planted  by  Frenchmen.  plans 

But  did  the  river  enter  the  Gulf  ?  That  was  for  him  to  dis- 
cover, and  after  five  years  of  getting  ready  he  set  out  to  make 
the  attempt.  But  another  four  years  passed,  and  three  heroic  His  failures 
attempts  were  made  and  two  failures  nobly  overcome  before  La 
Salle,  with  his  little  fleet  of  canoes,  floated  out  of  the  Illinois 
River  upon  the  broad  current  of  the  Mississippi. 


:! 


Statue  of  Marquette 

{In  the  Capitol  at  Washington) 


40  THE    FRENCH   IN   THE   MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY 

La  Saiie  at  It  was  in  the  month  of  February,  and  the  river  was  a  rush- 
MisSssiJpi  in&  torrent  Ml  of  ice  an(i  floating  trees.  But  La  Salle  pushed 
on  till  the  canoes  reached  that  point  where  the  Mississippi 
divides  and  enters  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  through  three  broad 
channels.  La  Salle  sent  one  band  of  his  followers  down  the 
eastern  channel,  and  another  down  the  middle,  while  he  fol- 
lowed the  western  channel,  to  the  waters  of  the  Gulf.  Then 
he  coasted  along  the  marshes  to  the  mouth  of  the  middle  chan- 
nel, where  the  parties  met  and  landed.  A  huge  cross  was  now 
made  ready,  the  arms  of  France  were  fastened  to  it,  and  with 
songs  of  praise  to  God,  and  shouts  of  "  Long  live  the  King,'* 
it  was  planted  in  the  ground.  Standing  beside  it,  La  Salle,  in 
a  loud  voice,  took  possession  of  all  the  land  drained  by  the 
claims  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  and  their  branches,  claimed  it  in  the 
name  of  France,  and  named  it  "Louisiana,"  after  Louis  XIV., 
who  was  King  of  France  at  that  time. 

But  his  work  was  far  from  ended.  The  valley  he  had  ex- 
plored, the  country  he  had  added  to  France,  must  be  occupied, 
and  to  occupy  it  two  things  were  necessary.  There  must  be 
a  colony  planted  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  keep  out  the 
Spaniards ;  there  must  be  a  strong  fort  and  colony  somewhere 
on  the  Illinois  to  control  the  Indians. 

La  Salle,  therefore,  hurried  back  to  the  lakes,  gathered  as 
many  men  as  possible,  and  in  December  was  again  on  the 
Illinois  River,  where  he  chose,  as  the  place  for  his  fort,  the 
lofty  summit  of  a  great  cliff,  now  called  Starved  Rock. 
This  famous  rock  stands  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Illinois 
Fort  River,  near  the  present  town  of  Ottawa.  On  three  sides  the 
st.  Louis  rock  ^s  SQ  S£eep  j.]^  j|.  can  n0£  kg  ciimbed.      The  fourth  side 

may  be  mounted  with  difficulty.  The  summit  is  about  an  acre 
in  extent,  and  on  it  La  Salle  built  a  stockade  which  he  named 
Fort  St.  Louis. 


THE   FRENCH   IN   THE    MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY 


41 


In  order  to  secure  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  La  Salle  LaSaiiein 
now  set  off  for  Paris,  where  his  plans  so  pleased  the  King  that  Texas 
he  was  soon  sent  with  four  ships  to  plant  a  colony  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Father  of  Waters.  But  the  little  fleet  missed  the  mouth 
of  the  river  and  brought  up 
on  the  coast  of  Texas,  where 
the  men  landed  and  built 
Fort  St.  Louis  of  Texas. 
But  evil  fortune  still  pur- 
sued their  great  commander. 
The  colonists  quarreled, 
death  reduced  their  numbers 
rapidly,  and  in  their  distress 
the  few  who  were  left  divided 
themselves  into  two  parties. 
Some  remained  at  the  fort  and  were  never  heard  of  again. 
Others,  led  by  La  Salle,  started  for  the  Illinois  and  reached  it 
after  a  long  time,  but  on  the  way  they  had  murdered  La  Salle, 
—  one  of  the  greatest  explorers  of  our  country. 

Eleven  years  now  passed  without  any  effort  being  made  by  French  settle 
France  to  take  possession  of  Louisiana.    But  by  and  by  (1699)  *ew  0rleans 
a  stockade  called  Biloxi  was  built  on  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  then  after  a 
few  years  Mobile  Bay  was  occupied  and  the  cities  of  Mobile 
and  New  Orleans  were  started. 


Starved  Rock 


SUMMARY 

The  French  were  attracted  to  North  America  by  the  good  fishing  oft 
Newfoundland,  but  sent  out  Cartier  to  find  a  northwest  passage  to  the 
Indies.     Instead  he  discovered  and  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 

For  many  years  no  attempt  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  river  was  successful, 
but  at  last  Champlain  led  out  a  colony  and  founded  Quebec  (1G0S). 


44  THE   ENGLISH   IN   VIRGINIA 

3.  Champlain  aided  the  Canadian  Indians  in  war  against  the  fierce  Iroquois 

of  New  York.  As  a  result,  the  French  were  prevented  from  making 
settlements  in  New  York,  but  pushed  westward  north  of  Lake  Ontario, 
discovered  the  Great  Lakes,  and  heard  of  a  river  called  Mississippi, 
or  the  Father  of  Waters. 

4.  Marquette  and  Joliet  were   sent  to   explore   this  river.      A  few  years 

later  another  Frenchman,  named  La  Salle,  floated  down  the  river 
to  its  mouth,  claimed  all  the  country  drained  by  it  for  France,  and 
called  it  Louisiana. 

5.  All  this  gave  the  French  a  claim  to  Canada,  the  region  of  the  Great 

Lakes,  and  the  Mississippi  valley. 

6.  Toward  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  in  the  beginning  of  the 

eighteenth,  France  began  to  occupy  the  lower  Mississippi  valley  and 
built  Mobile  and  New  Orleans. 

CHAPTER   V 

THE   ENGLISH   IN  VIRGINIA 

The  cabots  Now  we  must  learn  how  there  happened  to  be  any  English 
in  our  country.  A  few  years  after  Columbus  discovered  the 
West  Indies,  a  sailor  named  Cabot  sailed  from  England  in 
command  of  an  English  ship  to  see  if  he  could  find  a  way 
to  Asia. 

Like  Columbus,  he  failed  in  the  attempt ;  but  during  a 
second  voyage,  Cabot  (or  his  son)  sailed  along  our  coast  from 
Newfoundland  southward,  and  the  English  accordingly  claimed 
this  part  of  America  as  their  own.  Nearly  a  hundred  years 
went  by  before  they  were  ready  to  make  settlements  in  it ;  and 
when  at  last  they  tried  to  do  so,  they  too,  like  the  French,  made 
Gilbert  a  number  of  failures.  Humphrey  Gilbert,  who  went  to  New- 
foundland in  search  of  a  good  place  to  plant  a  colony,  was 
lost  at  sea.     Sir  Walter  Ralegh  twice  sent  bands  of  settlers  to 


THE   ENGLISH   IN   VIRGINIA 


45 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Roanoke  Island   on  the  coast  of  North    Carolina.       The  first  Ralegh's 
band  soon  went  back  to  England ;  the  second  disappeared,  and  settlements 
what  befell  it  is  not  known  to  this  day. 

Though  Ralegh's  attempts  were  failures,  the  time  for  the 
planting  of  the  first  successful 
colony  was  near  at  hand,  and 
in  1607  (one  year  before  Cham- 
plain  founded  Quebec)  three 
ships  full  of  men  crossed  the 
Atlantic  from  England. 

They  were  sent  by  the  Lon- 
don Company,  and  sailed  for 
the  coast  of  Virginia,  as  the 
English  called  the  whole  coun- 
try from  what  is  now  South 
Carolina  to  Maine.  Entering 
the  mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay, 
the  colonists  one  beautiful  May 
day  sailed  up  a  broad  river 
which  they  called  the  James 
in  honor  of  their  king,  and, 
landing  on  its  bank,  began  a 
settlement  which  they  named  Virginia  and  Maryland 

Jamestown.  For  shelter  some  had  tents  made  of  sails  ;  others 
had  cabins  with  grass  or  bark  roofs ;  others  had  holes  in  the 
ground. 

Presently  their  food  gave  out,  and  many  fell  sick  and  died,  captain  John 
They  did  not  know  how  to  live  in  a  wilderness.     Had  it  not  Smith 
been  for  Captain  John  Smith,  every  one  of  them  would  have 
perished.      Smith  took  command :  he  set  the  men  to  building 
good  huts;  persuaded  the  Indians  to  bring  food;  and  for  two 
years  kept  the  colonists  together. 


46 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  VIRGINIA 


Story  of 
Pocahontas 


Grave  of  Powhatan,  James  Paver 

{Present  state) 

Sometimes  with  a  boat  full  of  companions  he  would  go  off 
to  explore  the  country.  On  one  of  these  trips  most  of  his  men 
were  left  to  guard  the  boat,  while  he  with  four  others  paddled 
up  a  river  in  a  canoe.  Suddenly  a  band  of  Indians  attacked 
the  little  party,  captured  Smith,  and  killed  the  others. 

Sure  that  his  life  was  in  danger,  he  at  once  began  to  amuse 
the  Indians.  Taking  out  his  pocket  compass,  he  showed  them 
the  needle  trembling  and  quivering  and  always  pointing  one 
way.  Amazed  at  what  they  saw,  they  spared  his  life  and  took 
him  to  the  village  of  the  great  war  chief  called  the  Powhatan, 
and  into  a  long  wigwam.  Before  the  fire  sat  the  Powhatan, 
dressed  in  a  robe  of  raccoon  skins.  Beside  him  were  his 
squaws,  and  along  the  walls  the  other  women  and  the  warriors. 
After  a  very  long  debate  it  was  decided  to  kill  the  prisoner. 
Two  stones  were  placed  in  front  of  the  chief,  and  Smith's 
head  was  laid  upon  them.  Near  by  stood  the  warriors,  clubs 
in  hand,  and  just  about  to  dash  out  his  brains,  when  Poca- 
hontas, a  little  daughter  of  the  chief,  rushed  up  and  laid  her 
head  upon  Smith's  and  saved  him.      This  is  the  story  as  it  was 


f  Hti   ENGLISH  IN  VIRGINIA 


47 


told  by  Smith ;  it  may  be  true,  but  some  say  that  Smith  made 
it  up.  Pocahoutas,  at  all  events,  was  a  real  Indian  girl,  and 
was  a  good  friend  to  the  Jamestown  people,  and  finally  married 
John  Rolfe,  one  of  the  settlers. 

While  Smith  was  in  command  the  colony  grew  and  did  fairly  The  starving 
well.  But  when  he  returned  to  England,  evil  days  came  upon  time 
the  people.  Food  grew  scarce ;  the  Indians  became  hostile  ; 
famine  set  in,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  starving  people  were 
so  terrible  that  in  a  few  months  their  number  was  reduced 
from  five  hundred  to  sixty.  These,  too,  would  have  perished 
had  not  two  little  ships  with  more  settlers  arrived  just  at  that 
time. 

But  when  the  newcomers  saw  the  starving  people,  all  that 
were  left  of  the  once  thriving  colony,  their  hearts  failed  them, 


'    ■'      - 

■ 

y  •  \- '■>>'•;: 

■HEa                Wrwml 

PoBK-*  »JHP 

BIB  ^^^IiL^^HIpI 

0|9^PI| 

'^  IjmsKSSi bp^5  i 

J^^^Hf^P^jS^ssWHIKflHrQlLwitf  ^ 

jJm'-  '<wm&L.  .^HKt    ^n 

Wjfc&  4*. 

g  -  yaWB  J^fHBIIHB ' 

^f|^ 

" 

>^^m| 

m['  .#iiB 

BsSKSS-^^S 

?      -  .1  ffina  ifl 

inting  6(/  Henry  Bruecknar 


Marriage  of  Pocahontas 


48 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  VIRGINIA 


Tobacco 
raising 


and  they  decided  to  leave  Jamestown  forever.  Then  the  huts 
were  stripped  of  everything  worth  taking  away,  and  the  set- 
tlers, boarding  the  ships,  sailed  down  the  river.  Such,  how- 
ever, was  not  to  be  the  end  of  Jamestown.  As  the  settlers 
neared  the  sea  they  met  three  well-stocked  vessels  from  Eng- 
land, and  turning  back  reoccupied  the  huts  just  abandoned, 
and  began  a  new  struggle  for  a  living. 

And  a  struggle  it  was.     The  newcomers  were  quite  unfit  for 

life  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  colony  can  not  be  said  to  have 

become  prosperous  till  the   colonists   began  to   raise  tobacco, 

which  greatly  changed  the  whole  course  of  events  in  Virginia. 

In  the  first  place,  when  the  people  found  what 

good    prices    tobacco    brought    in    England,    they 

raised  it  rather  than  corn  or  wheat,  and  it  became 

the  chief  crop. 

In  the  second  place,  when  men  in  England  saw 
that  money  was  to  be  made  by  tobacco  growing  in 
Virginia,  they  came  over  to  engage  in  planting,  and 
the  colony  drew  to  itself  a  better  class  of  settlers. 
In  the  third  place,  tobacco  became  a  sort  of 
money,  and  the  price  of  food,  of  clothes,  of  articles 
of  all  sorts,  and  even  wages,  were  paid  in  pounds 
of  tobacco. 

In  the  fourth  place,  as  the  colony  grew  in  num- 
bers, and  tobacco  planting  became  more  and  more 
the  chief  business  of  the  colony,  people  lived  on 
plantations  rather  than  in  towns  and  cities. 

About  the  time  the  Virginians  may  be  said  to 

have  fairly  started   on  their  career  of  prosperity  (when  the 

colony  was   twelve    years    old),   an   odd  thing  happened,  —  a 

wives  for  shipload  of  young  women  arrived  in  search  of  husbands.     Of 

the  men  who  had  heretofore  come   over  very  few  had  wives 


Tobacco  plant 


settlers 


THE   ENGLISH   IN   VIRGINIA 


49 


iiii'WvIK^^ 

A  fH 

■iiit'-^ 

.:H| 

.«     If  IF 

III.  1 

■K 

■BBBKBH 

i 

Westover,  a  Virginia  colonial  bouse 


and  children.  The 
company  which  man- 
aged affairs  in  Vir- 
ginia knew  very  well 
that  without  homes 
and  children  and 
family  ties,  their 
colony  could  never 
become  prosperous. 
The  company  there- 
fore decided  to  pro- 
vide wives,  and  find- 
ing ninety  young 
women  willing  to  go, 

sent  them  out  to  Jamestown.  Each  one  was  free  to  choose  her 
husband.  But  the  girls  were  so  much  sought  for,  that  the 
company  sent  out  shipload  after  shipload,  and  then  each  man 
had  to  pay  the  passage  of  his  wife,  which  was  one  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds  of  tobacco. 

During  the  same  year  in  which  these  young  women  arrived,  Negro  slaves 
another  ship,  bearing  a  very  different  sort  of  people,  touched  at 
Jamestown.  It  was  a  Dutch  man-of-war,  and  from  it  twenty 
negroes  were  sold  to  the  colonists.  These  were  the  first  negro 
slaves  in  our  country,  and  from  their  introduction  dates  the 
beginning  of  slavery,  which  in  time  brought  about  much  trouble. 

Many  years  went  by,  however,  before  slaves  became  numer-  indented 
ous,  and  in  the  meantime  much  of  the  labor  was  performed  servants 
by  white  persons  called  indented  servants  or  redemptioners. 
These  were  men,  women,  and  children  who  had  been  sold  for  a 
certain  number  of  years,  and  who  would  not  be  free  till  they 
had  worked  that  length  of  time  for  their  masters.  Some  of 
them  were  persons  who  had  sold  themselves  in  this  way,  in 


50 


THE   ENGLISH   IN   VIRGINIA 


Great 

tobacco 

plantations 


No  roads 


order  to  pay  their  passage  to  America ;  some  of  them  were 
criminals,  or  persons  guilty  of  some  little  offense,  who  had 
been  sold  for  a  time  instead  of  being  punished  in  any  other 
way ;  some  of  them  were  boys  or  girls  who  had  been  stolen 

from  their  homes  and  carried  off 
by  force,  something  like  the 
negro  slaves. 

These  indented  servants  could 
be  bought  and  sold  like  slaves  or 
cattle,  but  only  for  the  time  dur- 
ing which 'they  were  bound  to 
serve.  When  that  time  was  up, 
they  no  longer  had  to  work  with- 
out pay,  but  might  work  for 
wages,  or  might  get  small  plan- 
tations of  their  own.  Some,  how- 
ever, were  lazy  and  became  beg- 
gars and  thieves. 
With  the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  the  arrival  of  the  maids,  and 
the  coming  of  more  emigrants  from  England,  the  settled  part 
of  Virginia  was  greatly  increased.  By  the  time  the  colony  was 
twenty  years  old,  large  plantations  were  scattered  along  the 
banks  of  the  York  and  James  rivers,  and  Virginia  had  begun 
to  be  a  new  kind  of  country.  There  were  no  roads,  scarcely 
any  villages,  and  tobacco  planting  had  become  the  chief 
industry. 

There  were  no  roads  because  the  plantations  generally  lay 
along  some  river  or  stream,  and  it  was  easier  to  pass  from  one 
to  another  by  water  than  by  land.  There  were  no  towns  (save  a 
few  very  small  ones,  such  as  Henricus  and  Bermuda),  because 
almost  everybody  lived  on  plantations,  and  because  all  trade 
and  commerce  were  carried  on  at  the  planter's  own  door. 


Main  gateway  at  Westover 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  VIRGINIA 


51 


The  ships  that  came  from  England  for  the  tobacco  would  sail 
up  the  rivers  to  the  planters'  wharves,  take  on  board  what 
tobacco  was  for  sale,  and  pay  for  it  with  articles  brought  from 
the  mother  country.  Tables,  chairs,  knives,  saws,  axes,  nails, 
hammers,  clothing,  shoes,  —  almost  everything  the  planter 
needed  for  his  family,  his  house,  his  plantation,  and  his  serv- 
ants, came  from  abroad. 

The  Virginians  bought  all  these  things  from  England,  not  Little 
because  they  were  too  lazy  to  make  them  for  themselves,  but  be-  jj^j1* fac 
cause  they  were  so 
busy  planting  and 
curing  tobacco,  and 
because  they  had 
very  few  good  work- 
men. So  general 
was  tobacco  plant- 
ing, so  completely 
did  it  take  men 
away  from  other 
pursuits,  that  when 
Virginia  was  about 
twenty-five  years 
old,  a  law  was  made 
forbidding  brick- 
makers,  carpenters, 
turners,  sawyers, 
and  joiners  to  plant 
or  farm. 

Another  effect  of 
the   Virginian   way 
of  living  on  plantations  was,  as  we  have  said,  the  small  number  Few  towns 
of  towns.     This,  too,  the  Virginia  lawmakers  tried  to  remedy. 


Ruins  of  the  church  at  Jamestown 


52 


THE   ENGLISH   IN  VIRGINIA 


They  ordered  each  county  to  build  one  brick  house  in  James- 
town, and  required  all  the  tobacco  raised  within  a  certain 
region  to  be  sent  there.  But  the  law  was  not  obeyed,  and 
Jamestown  never  contained  more  than  a  church,  a  courthouse, 
and  a  few  houses.  To-day  its  site  is  a  farm,  and,  save  the 
ruined  tower  of  the  church,  and  some  tombs  and  graves,  little 

remains  to  show  where 
it  once  stood. 

Yet  another  law 
required  towns  to  be 
built  at  certain  places, 
and  offered  all  kinds 
of  favors  to  persuade 
people  to  live  in  them. 
But  this,  too,  was  a 
failure,  and  it  was  a 
long  time  before  the 
present  cities  of  Vir- 
ginia struggled  into 
the  shape  of  villages. 
There  were  other 
towns  established  by 
law  in  each  county  as 


Siihiey 


Early  houses 


places  in  which  to  try  lawsuits  and  punish  criminals,  but  they 
rarely  consisted  of  more  than  the  courthouse,  the  jail  (near 
which  stood  the  stocks,  the  pillory,  and  the  whipping  post),  a 
wretched  inn  for  the  use  of  the  judges  and  lawyers,  and  some- 
times a  church.  Such  a  place  was  called  a  "  Court  House  " 
and  was  named  from  the  county  in  which  it  was  situated,  as 
Hanover  Court  House,  Culpeper  Court  House,  and  the  like. 
In  early  times  the  houses  of  the  Virginia  settlers  were  of 
logs  and  built  without  iron.     Wooden  pegs  were  used  in  place 


THE   ENGLISH   IN   VIRGINIA 


53 


of  nails  ;  leather  was  used  for  hinges  ;  and  a  wooden  latch  with 
a  leather  string  to  lift  it  answered  all  the  purposes  of  our  door 
knob  and  lock.  So  valuable  were  nails  that  a  common  practice 
of  settlers  in  later  times  when  leaving  their  farms  was  to  burn 
down  the  house  and  pick  the  nails  out  of  the  ashes  ;  and  in 
the  hope  of  stopping  this  custom  Virginia  offered  to  give  the 
mover  as  many  nails  as  were  believed  to  be  in  the  house,  pro- 
vided he  left  it  standing. 

As  the  people  became  more  prosperous,  log  houses  gave  place 
to  long,  narrow  board 
houses  with  huge  stone 
or  log  chimneys  at  each 
end,  and  partitions  plas- 
tered with  mud  and 
whitewashed.  Some- 

times the  windows  were 
furnished  with  glass ; 
but  more  often  only 
shutters  were  used  to 
keep  out  the  wind  and 
rain. 

The    great    planters 
had  fine  houses,  a  few  of  which,  built  two  hundred  years  ago,  Great 
are  still  standing.      They  are  of  brick  or  wood,  have  names,  Planters' 
as  Shirley,  or  Lower  Brandon,  or  Sabin  Hall,  or  Westover,  and 
are  fine  examples  of  their  kind.     Around  the  Hall,  and  separate 
from  it,  were  the  kitchen,  with  its  huge  fireplace  and  curious 
cooking  utensils  ;  the  offices,  the  vegetable  garden,  the  ware- 
houses for  tobacco  and  grain,  the  stables,  the  cattle  pens,  the 
dairy,  and  the  cluster  of  little  log  cabins  where  the  slaves  lived, 
known  as  the  negro  quarters. 

The  slaves  and  white  redemptioners,  of  which  on  the  great 

MoM.  PR.  H. — 4 


Negro  quarters 


54 


THE   ENGLISH  IN  VIRGINIA 


Lord 
Baltimore 


Maryland 
settled 


plantations  there  were  generally  several  hundred,  did  all  the 
work.  Some  were  coopers  and  made  barrels  in  which  the 
tobacco  was  packed  and  rolled  to  the  wharf  or  warehouse  ; 
others  were  blacksmiths,,  carpenters,  sawyers,  spinners  ;  some 
•  s  were  weavers  and  knitters  who  made 
coarse  cloth  and  stockings  for  the 
negroes.  But  this  was 
at  a  time  when  Virginia 
was  a  hundred  years  or 
more  old. 

Long  before  that  time 
the  London  Company 
which  at  first  controlled 
Virginia  had  been  broken 
up,  so  that  the  colony  came 
under  the  control  of  the 
English  King.  Then, 
about  twenty-five  years 
after  the  founding  of  Jamestown,  King  Charles  I.  cut  off  a 
piece  of  Virginia  and  gave  it  to  Lord  Baltimore. 

This  nobleman  had  attempted  to  plant  a  colony  in  New- 
foundland, but  the  French  attacked  him,  and  the  climate  was 
so  cold  and  the  winters  so  long  and  the  soil  so  poor  that  he 
applied  to  the  King  for  a  piece  of  Virginia.  The  great  tract 
given  him  he  called  Maryland  after  the  Queen.  For  it  he 
was  to  pay  the  King  two  Indian  arrows  every  year,  which  meant 
that  the  King  did  not  give  up  all  authority  over  the  colony. 

About  this  time  the  first  Lord  Baltimore  died  ;  but  his  son 
went  on  with  the  work,  and  sent  out  a  body  of  colonists,  who 
landed  on  a  little  island  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Potomac  River.  Later  they  moved  to  the  banks  of  the  river 
and  started  the  town  of  St.  Marys. 


Hallway  at  Shirley 


THE   ENGLISH   IN  VIRGINIA  55 

Though  Maryland  was  a  Catholic  colony,  Lord  Baltimore 
opened  it  to  all  Christians  ;  and  soon  members  of  several 
Protestant  churches  made  their  homes  on  its  soil. 

What  has  been  said  of  life  in  Virginia  is  just  as  true  of  life  Life  in 
in  Maryland.     There  too  people  raised  tobacco,  lived  on  large  Maryland 
plantations   rather   than   in   towns,    traveled    about   by  water 
rather  than  by  land,   and  cultivated  their  plantations  by  in- 
dented white  servants  and  negro  slaves.     There  were  no  large 
cities  to  which  the  planters  could  send  their  crops  to  be  sold 
and  shipped  abroad.     Each  plantation  had,  if  possible,  frontage 
on  some  river  or  the  bay,  and  to  its  wharf  or  "  landing  "  would 
come  the  English  merchant  ships  to  exchange  the  knives,  saws, 
silks,  and  muslins  of  the  Old  World  for  the   tobacco   of  the 
New.      When  the  plantation  was  not  on  a  stream  deep  enough 
to  float  a  great  ship,  the  tobacco  or  grain  would  be  loaded 
on  a  raft  and  pushed  down  to  the  ship.     When        ^    ^     % 
there  was   no    stream,  an  axle  would  iiifT^ri]         *w 

be  made  fast  to  each  cask  of 
tobacco,  which   was    then 
rolled  along  to  market. 

The   first    town    in     _ s 
Maryland  was  St.  Marys.  ~  RollinS  tobacco  to  market 

The  second,  Annapolis,  rose  to  be  the  most  important  in  the 
colony,  and  remained  so  till  Baltimore  was  founded  when 
Maryland  was  nearly  a  hundred  years  old. 


SUMMARY 

1.  A  few  years  after  the  voyage  of  Columbus,  Cabot  sailed  along  the  coast 

of  North  America  and  gave  the  English  a  claim  based  on  discovery. 

2.  About  a  hundred  years  later  attempts  were  made  by  Ralegh  to  found 

an  English  colony  on  Roanoke  Tsland,  but  failed. 


56  THE   ENGLISH    IN   NEW   ENGLAND 

3.  At  last  the  London  Company  planted  Jamestown,  in  Virginia  (1607), 
the  first  successful  settlement  by  the  English  in  our  country. 

4  The  company  sent  out  shiploads  of  young  women  to  marry  the  men; 
and  numbers  of  laborers,  called  redemptioners ;  while  a  Dutch  ship 
brought  the  first  negro  slaves  introduced  into  our  country. 

5.  In  Virginia  in  early  times  there  were  a  great  number  of  tobacco  planta- 

tions, and  hardly  any  towns. 

6.  When  Jamestown  was  about  twenty-five  years  old,  the  King  gave  a  large 

tract  of  land  to  Lord  Baltimore.    This  new  colony  was  called  Maryland. 

7.  Lord  Baltimore  made  Maryland  a  Roman  Catholic  colony ;  but  people 

of  any   Christian  sect   were   welcome  to   settle  there   and  were   not 
molested. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  ENGLISH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

why  the  While  the  Virginia  settlers  were  passing  their  first  year  in 

leftBngiand  *ne  New  World,  a  number  of  men  and  women  in  England  who 
had  begun  to  worship  God  in  a  manner  not  allowed  by  the 
laws  of  that  time,  and  had  been  harshly  treated,  fled  to  Hol- 
land, where  they  might  worship  as  they  pleased. 

They  were  glad  enough  to  find  such  a  place  of  refuge.  But 
if  they  and  their  children  after  them  were  to  remain  in  Holland, 
they  would  forget  their  native  land,  forget  their  native  lan- 
guage, lay  aside  the  manners  and  customs  of  Englishmen,  and 
at  length  become  Dutchmen.  As  they  were  not  willing  to  do 
this,  they  resolved  to  move  to  some  part  of  the  world  where 
they  might  still  be  Englishmen,  and  yet  be  free  to  worship 
God  in  their  own  way.  There  was  then  only  one  such  land, 
and  that  was  America. 

To  America,  therefore,  they  turned,  formed  a  company,  and 
having  obtained  leave  to  settle  on   the  coast  of  what  is  now 


THE   ENGLISH   IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


57 


New  Jersey,  a  little  band  of  Pilgrims  sailed  from  Holland  to  pilgrims  sail 
England.  There  others  joined  them,  and  the  company  thus  forAmenca 
increased  in  number  started  in  two  ships,  the  Speedwell  and 
the  Mayflower,  for  the  New  World.  But  they  had  not  gone 
far  from  land  when  the  Speedwell  sprung  a  leak,  and  both 
returned  to  port.  Some  repairs  were  made,  after  which  the 
two  again  set  sail  and  had  crossed  three  hundred  miles  of  water, 
when  the  Speedwell  leaked  so  badly  that  they  were  once  more 


du.tj  by  Chas.  \Y.   CoM 


Pilgrims  leaving  Holland 


forced  to  put  back.  A  few  of  the  band  now  gave  up  all  idea 
of  going,  and  remained  in  England.  The  rest,  just  one  hun- 
dred and  two  men,  women,  and  children,  crowded  on  board  the 
other  vessel,  the  Mayflower,  and  once  more  started  for  America. 


58 


THE   ENGLISH   IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


The  weather  was  so  bad  and  the  wind  so  high  that  nine 
weeks  passed  before  they  came  in  sight  of  land,  which  proved 
to  be  the  shore  of  Cape  Cod,  far  from  the  Jersey  coast  for 
which  they  had  started.  The  Mayflower 
was  therefore  turned  southward. 
But  head  winds  drove  her  back, 
\  <\  and  the  Pilgrims  were  forced  to 
seek  shelter  in  what  is  now  Prov- 
incetown    harbor,  behind 


The  Mayflower 


Cape  Cod. 

The     country     round 
about  was  so  poor  a  place 
for  a  settlement  that  par- 
ties were   sent  to  find   a 
better  one,  and  five  weeks 
were   spent   in    exploring 
the  shores.      At  last  one 
party,  under  Captain  Miles  Standish,  entered  a  harbor  so  at- 
tractive that  it  was  chosen  for  the  settlement.     To  this  harbor 
the  Mayflower  was  brought  with  all  on  board,  and  a  few  days 
Plymouth  before  Christmas,  1620,  the  Pilgrims  went  on  shore  to  begin 
the  building  of  a  town,  which  was  named  Plymouth. 

As  usual  with  settlers  in  a  new  country,  the  sufferings  of 
the  Pilgrims   during  the   first  winter  were   terrible.      Before 
spring  half  of   them  died.     But  the  rest  were  steadfast,  and, 
guided  by  the  wisdom  of 
William     Bradford     and 
defended  by  the  skill  and 
courage  of  Miles  Standish, 
the  colony  passed  through 
all  the  perils  of  the  wil- 
derness. Relics  of  Miles  Standish 


Pilgrims 
settle 


THE   ENGLISH  IN  NEW   ENGLAND 


59 


One  day  in  the  early  spring  an  Indian  walked  into  Plymouth  Pilgrims  and 
and  astonished  the  people  by  saying  "  Welcome  !  "  in  good 
English.  He  was  Samoset,  and  had  learned  the  word  from 
some  fishermen  who  visited  the  coast  before  the  Pilgrims. 
By  and  by  he  paid  another  visit  with  four  companions,  one 
of  whom  was  called 
Squanto. 

Squanto  had  been 
carried  away  by  one 
of  the  early  explorers, 
had  been  taken  to 
England,  and  had  at 
last  been  brought 
back  to  his  old  home 
near  Plymouth  Bay. 
During  his  long  stay 
abroad  Squanto  had 
learned  to  speak  Eng- 
lish, and  now  he  be- 
came a  most  important 
man  in  Plymouth. 
He  acted  as  interpre- 


New  England 


ter  between  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Indians.       He  taught  the  what  squanto 
settlers  how  to  fish,  how  to  catch  eels,  and  how  to  plant  and  tausht 
cultivate  corn,  and  told  them  to  put  a  fish  in  each  hill  of  corn, 
as  manure. 

On  his  first  visit  Squanto  said  that  Massasoit,  chief  of  a 
neighboring  tribe,  was  coming  to  see  the  colonists.  The 
Pilgrims  received  this  chief  with  great  ceremony,  and  a  treaty 
was  made,  binding  each  to  help  the  other  and  to  trade  as  friends. 

Not  every  chief  was  as  friendly  as  Massasoit,  and  presently 
the  head  of  another  near-by  tribe  sent  a  messenger  to  Plymouth 


60 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


Rhode 
Island 
settled 


with  a  rattlesnake  skin 
wrapped  about  a  bundle  of 
arrows.  Nobody  knew  what 
this  meant.  But  the  next 
time  Squanto  came  to  Plym- 
outh he  said  it  was  a  chal- 
lenge to  fight.  When  Brad- 
ford heard  this,  he  filled  the 
snake  skin  with  powder  and 
bullets,  and  sent  it  back. 
Then  the  hostile  chief  de- 
cided not  to  fight,  after  all. 

But  the  Pilgrims  were 
not  the  only  people  who  could 
not  live  in  England.  Others, 
known  as  the  Puritans,  were 
now  so  harshly  treated  that 
they  too  turned  to  America. 
Coming  over  in  great  num- 
bers, they  founded  Salem  and 
Boston,  and  other  towns 
near  by,  and  thus  planted 
a  new  colony  called  Massachusetts  Bay. 

In  a  little  while,  however,  disputes  arose  in  the  new  colony 
over  church  matters,  and  numbers  of  the  settlers  went  off 
under  different  leaders  and  built  other  towns.  One  of  them, 
a  young  minister  named  Roger  Williams,  was  so  disliked  that 
he  was  ordered  to  go  back  to  England. 

Instead  of  going  to  England,  Williams  fled  to  the  village 
of  Massasoit,  passed  a  winter  there,  and  in  die  spring  built  a 
house  near  by  at  a  place  he  called  Providence.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island. 


Fainting  by  C.  H.  Houghton 

Puritans  going  to  church 


THE   ENGLISH   IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


61 


About  the  same  time  another  very  famous  minister,  Thomas  Connecticut 
Hooker,  left   Massachusetts    Bay   with   a  great   many  of   his  settled 
congregation.    They  started  westward,  walk- 
ing through  the  forests,  driving  their  cattle 
before  them,  till  they  came  to  the  banks  of 
the  Connecticut,  where  they  founded  Hart- 
ford.     Other  bands   soon   followed  the 
example  of  Hooker's  party,  and  built 
two  more   towns  near  Hartford. 
These    were    the    beginnings    of 
Connecticut.       Two    years   later 
another    colony   was    started    at 
New  Haven. 

The  arrival  of  settlers  in  the 
Connecticut  valley  led  the  chief 
of  the  Pequot  Indians  to  attempt 
to  drive  out  the  whites,  and  he 
began  by  trying  to  persuade  other  tribes  to  join  him  on  the 
warpath.  Hearing  of  this,  the  settlers  begged  Roger  Williams 
to  do  his  best  to  prevent  such  a  union  of  powerful  tribes. 
Williams  had  little  reason  to  love  the 
people  who  had  driven  him  into  exile ; 
but  he  was  too  noble  a  man  to  seek 
revenge,  and  by  his  influence  the  union 
of  the  tribes  was  prevented. 

Left  to  themselves,  the  Pequots  now  Pequotwai 
attacked  the  settlers.  Men  were  killed 
on  their  way  to  the  fields,  people  were 
scalped,  and  girls  were  carried  off.  Such 
things  were  not  to  be  endured,  and  as 
1  soon  as  possible  a  little  band  of  whites,  with  some  friendly 
Indians,  set  off  to  attack  the  Pequots. 


Monument  over  Plymouth  Rock 


The  flag  of  New 
England 


62 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


Destruction 
of  the 
Pequots 


King 

Philip's 

War 


Pequot  village 


Their  village,  which  stood  not  far  from   Stonington,  was 
a  collection  of    wigwams  surrounded  by  a  circular  fence  or 
i  stockade  of  tree  trunks  set  firmly 

on  end  in  the  ground.  The 
trunks  touched  each  other,  leav- 
ing chinks  through  which  the 
Indians,  when  attacked,  could 
fire.  It  was  a  bright  moonlight 
night  in  May  when  the  army  came  in  sight  of  the  village,  within 
which  were  several  hundred  savages. 

At  the  sight  of  the  stockade,  the  Indian  allies  of  the  English 
were  filled  with  fear  and  slunk  back.  So  the  little  band  of 
white  men  went  on  alone  to  attack  the  whole  Indian  vil- 
lage. As  they  drew  near,  the  barking  of  the  dogs  aroused 
the  Pequots;  but  some  of  the  white  men  guarded  the  two 
entrances,  and  shot  down  every  one  who 
attempted  to  escape.  Others  guarded  the 
stockade  and  flung  burning  torches  over 
it,  setting  fire  to  the  wigwams.  Of  the 
many  Indians  who  were  in  the  village, 
only  five  escaped  death.  The  Pequot 
tribe  was  destroyed,  and  for  nearly  forty 
years  no  other  Indians  dared  lift  a  hand 
against  the  whites. 

During  these  years  of  peace  the  colo- 
nists increased  rapidly  in  number,  built 
new  towns,  and  crowded  the  Indians  more 
and  more.  The  loss  of  their  land  of 
course  angered  the  savages,  and  they 
would  gladly  have  killed  all  the  settlers. 

But  they  remembered  the  fate  of  the  Pequots  and  kept  quiet 
till  a  chief  called  King  Philip  dug  up  the  hatchet,  and  began 


Chair  of  the  first 
governor  of  Plymouth 


THE  ENGLISH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


63 


(1675)  a  three   years'  war  for  the  purpose   of    |  driving  the 
white  man  from  the  country. 

For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  people  on  the 
frontier  would  all  be  killed.  Village  after 
village  was  attacked  and  fearful  deeds  were 
done.  Out  of  ninety  towns  twelve  were 
burned  to  the  ground,  and  forty  were  at- 
tacked and  many  of  their  inhabitants  slaugh- 
tered. More  than  a  thousand  white  men  and 
scores  of  women  and  children  perished  be- 
fore Philip  was  killed  and  the  war  ended. 

And  what  of  the  red  man  ?  As  a  power  the 
Indian  was  destroyed,  and,  except  when  aiding 
the  French  in  their  border  wars,  disappears 
from  New  England  history.  Dreadful  as  these 
things  were,  they  ought  to  be  remembered, 
know  what  sort  of  people  founded  our  states,  and  at  what  a 
cost  in  life  and  suffering. 

King  Philip's  War  had  scarcely  ended  when  King  Charles  II.  New 

made  another  New  England  colony.  Much  of  the  HamPshire 
country  included  in  what  is  now  Maine  and  New 
Hampshire  once  belonged  to  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  and  John  Mason.  In 
time  the  heir  of  Gorges  sold  Maine 
to  Massachusetts.  But  the  heirs  of 
Mason  neglected  New  Hampshire, 
and  the  few  towns  in  it  were  gov- 

Cradle  of  the  first  Pilgrim  baby  -11  ■»»  1  ,,         ..,,        P. 

erned  by  Massachusetts  till  alter 
King  Philip's  War,  when  the  King  made  it  a  separate  royal 
province. 

Not  long  after  this  Plymouth,  or  "  the  Old  Colony,"  was  1°™*™ 
added   to    Massachusetts.       As    the    New  Haven   colony  was  colonies 


An  early  flax  spinning 
wheel 

We  ought   to 


64  PIONEER   LIFE   IN  NEW   ENGLAND 

already  joined  with  Connecticut,  there  were  then  but  four 
New  England  colonies  left  —  Massachusetts  Bay,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut. 

SUMMARY 

1.  The  first  permanent  English  settlement  in  New  England  was  made  at 

Plymouth  (1620)  by  the  Pilgrims,  as  they  were  called. 

2.  After  suffering  great  hardships,  the  Plymouth  colony  began  to  prosper, 

and  its  success  led  to  a  great  Puritan  immigration.  The  Puritans 
founded  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  to  which,  after  many  years, 
Plymouth  and  Maine  were  annexed. 

3.  Religious  differences  soon  led  to  the  founding  of  a  new  colony  by  Roger 

Williams,  which  we  know  as  Rhode  Island,  and  to  the  planting  of 
three  towns  in  the  Connecticut  River  valley. 

4.  The  arrival  of  these  people  in  the  Connecticut  valley  was  the  cause  of  the 

Pequot  War  and  the  almost  utter  destruction  of  the  Pequot  Indians. 

5.  New  Haven  was  settled  as  a  colony  by  itself,  but  afterwards  became 

part  of  Connecticut. 

6.  For  many  years  there  was  peace  with  the  Indians.     But  in  time  a  long 

and  bloody  struggle,  known  as  King  Philip's  War,  occurred,  during 
which  the  Indian  power  in  New  England  was  broken. 

7.  Just  at  the  end  of  this  war  New  Hampshire  was  made  a  colony  separate 

from  Massachusetts. 

CHAPTER   VII 

PIONEER   LIFE   IN  NEW   ENGLAND 

Many  towns  In  our  study  of  Virginia  we  noticed  that  plantations  were 
many  and  large,  and  towns  few  and  very  small.  Just  the 
opposite  of  this  is  true  of  New  England,  where  there  were  no 
plantations,  but  many  towns.  Almost  everybody  lived  in  or 
near  a  town.  On  the  frontier  and  in  remote  places,  it  is  true, 
there  were  detached  farms ;    but   these  were  the   exceptions. 


PIONEER   LIFE   IN   NEW   ENGLAND 


65 


A  blockhouse 


The  church,  the  blockhouse,  and  the  town  house  stood  near 

together  in  the  center  of  the  village.     Around  them  were  the 

dwelling  of  the  minister,  the  inn,  the  store,  the 

shops  of  the  blacksmith,  the  shoemaker,  and 

all  the  other  tradesmen,  and  about  these 

in  turn  were  the  farmhouses,  some   near 

and  some  far  away. 

The  towns  that  were  on  the  frontier, 

or  so   situated  as  to   be   open    to    Indian 

attack   (and    few   in    early    colonial    days 

were  not),  were  always  guarded  by  block- 
houses   surrounded     by    high    stockades. 

There  might  be  three  or  more  blockhouses 

to  each  village,  and  to  these  at  night  the 

families  of  the  settlers  whose  homes  were  not  thus  protected  Defenses 

came  to  sleep.      When  daylight  returned,  if  all  was  found  to 

be  safe,  the  great  gate  was  unbarred  and  the  men  and  women 

went  back  to  their  daily  work,  and  at  sunset  returned  to  the 

blockhouses. 

To  such  little  forts  the  name  "garrison  houses"  was  given. 

Their  thick  sides  of  logs  were  bullet  proof.     The  upper  story 

projected  over  the  lower,  and  in  place  of  windows  were  loop- 
holes. The  walls  of  some  were 
of  stone.  Most  of  these  block- 
houses have  long  since  disap- 
peared, but  a  few,  changed  into 
dwelling  houses  with  windows, 
still  remain.  Small  towns  of 
twenty  or  thirty  houses  were 
often   entirely    surrounded    by  a 

.stockade  with  wooden  towers  called  "flankers,"  in  which  the 

oirntinels  kept  watch  from  sunset  to  sunrise. 


Garrison 
houses 


Pattens  worn  over  shoes  in  wet 
weather 


6Q 


PIONEER   LIFE   IN  NEW   ENGLAND 


The  houses  of  the  first-comers  were  of  logs.     The  builder 
would  begin  by  cutting  down  trees  and  chopping  them  into 

logs  about  fourteen  feet  long  and 
notching  the  end  halfway  through. 
When  enough  had  been  cut  he 
would  place  four  on  the  ground 
in  the  shape  of  a  square,  taking 
care  to  leave  an  open  space  in 
one  side  for  a  doorway,  and  an- 
other at  one  end  for  a  huge  fire- 
place. On  top  of  these  he  would 
put  a  second  set  of  logs,  and  then 
Houses  of  a  third  and  a  fourth,  and  so  on  till  the  walls  were  as  high  as 
N<tti  ^nglaQd  ne  wisned  them  to  be.  For  the  roof  he  used  log  rafters,  placed 
saplings  across  them,  and  on  the  saplings  laid  marsh  grass  or 
straw,  or  bark  of  trees  like  shingles,  or  shingles  themselves  if 
he  had  time  to  make  them.  Between  the  wall  logs  of  course 
would  be  chinks  or  open  spaces,  because  the  tree  trunks,  being 
of  different  shapes,  would  not  everywhere  touch  each  other. 
These  chinks  were  filled  with  chips  covered  with  mud  or  clay. 
Outside  the  great  fireplace  was  the  chimney,  made  either  of 
stones,  or  of  branches  of  trees  covered  with  clay  on  the  inside 
to  keep  them  from  taking  fire. 
Stoves  and  ranges  were  un- 
known. 

As  the  towns  along  the 
seacoast  grew  in  wealth  and 
population,      better      houses 
were  built,  and  some  of  these,  two  hundred  and  fifty  and  more 
years  old,  are  still  standing  in  New  England. 
Their  food         Quite  as  important  to  the  first-comers  as  their  houses,  was 
their  food.     We  have  seen  the  Jamestown  colonists  starving  t*. 


Toaster 


PIONEER  LIFE  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


67 


learned  from 
Indians 


Iron  lantern 


death  in  a  land  of  plenty  because  they  did  not  know  how  to  get 
things  to  eat.     In  New  England  matters  were  better 
managed,  though  the  soil  there  was  less  fertile,  and 
the  winters  were  colder.     The  Pilgrims  landed  in 
midwinter,  but  when  spring  came,  they  took  their 
first  lesson  in  New  World  farming  from  Squanto, 
that  good  friend  of  the  white  man. 

The  lesson  taught  at  Plymouth  has  never  been  Lessons 
forgotten,  and  the  New  England  boy  or  girl  who 
to-day  sees  a  cornfield  with  the  same  number  of 
stalks  in  each  hill,  with  bean  vines  clinging  to  the 
stalks,  and  pumpkin  vines  winding  in  and  out 
through  the  hills,  beholds  exactly  the  kind  of  corn 

patch  that  Squanto  showed  the  Pilgrims  how  to  plant. 

But  Squanto  did  more  than  this.     He  taught  them  how  to 

dry  and  pound  and  cook  the  corn,  and  to  prepare  dishes  which 

we  still  call  by  the  Indian  names  of  succo 

tash    and    supawn.       Having    no    mills    in 

which  to  grind  corn,  the  settlers  used  the 

Indian  method  of  pounding.    A  tree  would 

be  chosen  and  cut  off  three  feet  above  the 

ground  ;     a    hole  would    be    chopped   or 

burned  into  the  top  of  the  stump  ;  and 

a  heavy  block  of  wood  —  the  pestle  — 

shaped  to  fit  the  hole,  would  be    .^      -jgw/; 

suspended  from  a  young  tree  near 

by.     After  putting  his  corn  into  the 

hole,  the  farmer,  or  more  likely  his 

wife  or  daughter,  would  pull  down 


I 


Pounding  corn 


the  pestle  with  a  bang,  and  then  relax  the  pull  on  it  slightly, 
when  the  tree  would  lift  it  up  ready  for  another  blow,  and  so 
on  till  the  corn  was  pounded  into  meal. 


68 


PIONEER   LIFE    IN   NEW   ENGLAND 


Hous 


Dusehold 
manufactur- 
ing 


From  the  Indians 
also  came  the  pump- 
kin, the  squash,  the 
potato,  and  the  sweet 
potato.  To  them 
were  of  course  added 
such  vegetables  and 
fruits  as  the  settlers 
knew  in  England. 
From     the     Indians, 

,i  Old  house  (1650) 

again,  came  the  snow-  v   J  ' 

shoe,  the  moccasin,  and  the  canoe,  each  of  which  has  played  an 

important  part  in  the  history  of  our  country. 

From  the  very  start  household  articles  were  made  in  New 
England  far  more  generally  than  in  any  of  the  other  colonies. 
We  have  seen  how  dependent  Virginia  was  on  the  mother 
country  for  things  to  use,  to  wear,  and  to  work  with  indoors 
and  out.  New  England  was  not  so  much  so.  Furniture, 
utensils,  tools  of  many  sorts,  —  such  as 
hay  forks,  rakes,  oxbows,  ox  yokes,  sleds, 
flails,  scythe  handles,  and  ax  handles,  —  were 
made  by  the  farmer  and  his  sons.  Not  a 
boy  but  put  his  jackknife  to  useful 
purpose.      He   made   brooms 


Implements  for  lighting 

{Lard-oil  lamp,  iron  for  pulling  up  the  wick, 

and  combined  Under  box  and  candlestick) 


a  Yankee     dies  from  red  cherry. 


boy's  work 


after  the  Indian  fashion  from 
the  birch  tree  ;  bowls  and 
dippers,  skimmers  and  bot- 
tles, from  gourds  ;  shoe  pegs 
from  maple  wood ;  butter  pad- 
He  platted   flags   for  door  mats,  and 


whittled  rake   teeth,  cheese  hooks,  and  every  toy  he   owned, 
from  a  whistle  to  a  water  wheel.       Such  an   education  made 


PIONEER   LIFE   IN  NEW   ENGLAND 


69 


Wooden  tankard 


a  handy  man,  and  a  Yankee  who  was  not 
handy  was  of  no  account. 

Almost  everything  was  made  of  wood 
in  those  days.  Hinges  for  cupboard,  closet, 
and  even  shed  doors  ;  latches,  plows  and 
harrows,  spoons,  tankards,  and  a  hundred 
other  things  now  made  of  metal,  were  of 
wood.  Many  more  which  even  in  our  time 
are  wooden  but  are  purchased  "  at  the  store  " 
were  then  made  at  home  :  as  pails,  firkins, 
buckets,  tubs,  bread  troughs,  wagon  wheels. 
A  wheelwright  in  those  days  was  a  man 
who  made  spinning  wheels,  not  cart  wheels. 

On   the  women   of   the   household   fell  very  many    duties. 
They  made  the  soap,  molded  or  dipped 
he  candles,  broke  the  flax  and  spun  it, 
wove  and  bleached  the  linen  and  made 
it  into  clothes.    They  carded  wool, 
spun   the   yarn,    dyed    the    cloth, 
knit  mittens  and  stockings,  made 
straw  hats  and  baskets,  and  found 
time  to  bring  up  families  of 
fifteen  children. 

Long  after  this  period, 
when  the  colonies  were 
well-to-do,  a  bright  Yan- 
kee girl  who  kept  a  diary 
used  to  record  her  daily 
work.  From  these  entries 
it  appears  that  she  washed, 
cooked,  knitted,  weeded  the  garden,  picked  the  feathers  from 
live  geese  for  pillows  and  feather  beds,  and  did  a  dozen  things 

MCM.   PR.   H.  5 


Spinning  flax 


Women's 
work 


A  Yankee 
girl's  diary 


70  PIONEER  LIFE   IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

no  girl  of  our  time  thinks  of  doing.  As  put  down  day  by  day, 
her  entries  read :  "  Spun  short  thread.  Fix'd  two  gowns  for 
Welsh's  girls.  Carded  tow.  Spun  linen.  Worked  on  cheese 
basket.  Hatchel'd  flax  with  Hannah,  we  did  51  lbs.  apiece. 
Pleated  and  ironed.  Read  a  sermon  of  Doddridge's.  Spooled 
a  piece.  Milked  the  cows.  Spun  linen,  did  50  knots.  Made  a 
broom  of  Guinea  wheat  straw.  Spun  thread  to  whiten.  Set 
a  red  dye.  Had  two  scholars  from  Mrs.  Taylor's.  I  carded 
two  pounds  of  whole  ^®  wool  and  felt  nationly  [tired]. 
Spun  harness  _^^^r\  twine.  Scoured  the  pewter."1 
Tableware         Had     ^0mmmjr  this     industrious     young    woman 

lived  ^j|P!|JJJp^  in  the  early  colonial  times  instead 

of  just  at  their  close,  there  would 
probably  have  been  no  pewter  for 
her     to     scour.       There    were    of 
course  a  few  pewter  dishes.    Some 
belonging  to  Miles  Standish,  the   Captain  of  Plymouth,  are 
now  to   be   seen   at   that   town.      But  the  mass  of  the   early 
settlers   used  wooden   table  ware.       Forks,  it   is   said,  were 
unknown    in    England    till    the    year    after   Jamestown  was 
founded.     The  first  in  our  country,  we  are  told,  came  to  Gov- 
ernor John  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts,  twelve  years  after  the 
founding  of  Plymouth.     People  ate  with  their  fingers  or  with 
wooden   spoons    off  wooden   trenchers   instead    of   plates.     A 
trencher  was  a  block  of  wood  three  inches  or  so  in  thickness, 
hollowed  or  scooped  out  on  one  side  like  a  saucer. 
Table  Spoons  were  of  wood,  or  pewter,  or,  for  such  as  could  afford 

it,  of  silver.      Glass  tumblers  were  not  in  use,  nor  was  it  cus- 
tomary to  have  a  drinking  cup  for  each  person  at  the  table. 

1  These  extracts  are  given  by  Mrs.  Alice  Morse  Earle  in  a  delightful  book 
called  "  Home  Life  in  Colonial  Days,"  to  which  the  author  is  much  indebted. 


customs 


PIONEER   LIFE    IN   NEW   ENGLAND  71 

One  large  cup  or  tankard  was  enough,  and  each  drank  from  it 
in  turn  or  when  he  pleased  ;  and  it  might  be  of  wood,  or 
leather,  or  pewter. 

Could   we  have  entered  the  house  of   a  well-to-do   settler  a  settler 
at  dinner  time,  we  should  probably  have  seen  a  long,  narrow 
board  laid  across  X  supports.     This  was  the  table  or  »  board," 
which  was  "  spread."     The  spreading  consisted  of  the  cloth; 


dinner  table 


Colonial  kitchen  fireplace 

a  large  saltcellar  in  the  middle  of  the  board  ;  the  wooden 
trenchers  (not  always  one  for  each,  but  often  one  for  two 
members  of  the  family) ;  wooden  or  pewter  spoons,  and  knives, 
but  no  forks,  no  china,  no  glass  ;  a  huge  pewter  platter  heaped 
with  meat  and  vegetables  mixed  together,  and  a  wooden  or 
pewter  tankard  for  water. 

To  the  board  thus  simply  spread  children  were  scarcely  wel-  Children 
come.     In  many  families  they  were  not  allowed  to  sit  during  a 


72 


THE   MIDDLE    COLONIES 


meals,  but  must  stand  either  beside  the  table  or  at  a  sideboard ; 
must  eat  their  meals  as  quickly  as  possible  and  leave  the  room, 
change  in  As  prosperity  came  to  the  colonies,  many  of  these  customs 
and  much  of  this  simplicity  disappeared;  but  they  were  by  no 
means  wholly  gone  when  our  country  became  the  United  States. 


customs 


SUMMARY 

1.  In  New  England  the  people  lived  in  towns,  and  not  on  large  plantations. 

2.  Each  New  England  frontier  town  was  either  surrounded  by  a  stockade, 

or  was  provided  with  garrison  houses,  for  the  Indians  were  more  war- 
like than  in  Virginia. 

3.  Because  the  winters  in  New  England  were  colder  and  the  soil  less  fertile 

than  in  the  South,  the  houses,  the  occupations,  and  the  whole  manner 
of  life  were  very  different  in  the  two  sections. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES 

At  the  very  time  that  Champlain  was  getting 
ready  to  go  with  the  Canadian  Indians  to  fight 
the  Iroquois  of  New  York,  and  while  the  Eng- 
lish at  Jamestown  were   struggling  with  famine 
and  sickness  in  Virginia,  an  Englishman  named 
Henry  Hudson  appeared  off  the  coast  of  Maine. 
He  came  in  a  Dutch  ship,  the  Half-Moon,  from  the 
Netherlands  or  Holland,  in  search  of  a  northwest 
passage  through  or  around  America  to  the  Indies. 
Not   finding   one,   Hudson    sailed    southward   and 
came   presently  to  the  entrance  to  Delaware  Bay 
Hudson's  (map,  page  77),  up  which  he  went  a  little  way  ;  but  soon  turned 
about,  and  coasting  along  the  New  Jersey  shore,  went  into 


Dutch  merchant 


voyage 


THE   MIDDLE   COLONIES 


73 


s  -"  -    _ 


The  Half-Moon  on  the  Hudson 


New  York   Bay  and   sailed    far  up 
river  that  came  down  from 
the  north  (1609). 

The  beauty  of  the  scen- 
ery, the  magnificence  of  the 
Palisades,  the  mountains, 
and  the  lofty  hills  impressed 
Hudson  so  strongly  that  he 
named  the  stream  River  of 
the  Mountains,  though  we 
now  call  it  Hudson  River. 
But  the  chance  for  a  trade 
in  furs  was  likewise  noticed, 
and  when  Hudson  made  his  report  after  returning  to  Hol- 
land, merchants  of  Amsterdam  sent  ships  to  exchange  beads, 
knives,  and  red  cotton  cloth  for  skins  of  the  beaver  and 
the  otter.  A  few  years  later,  the  Dutch  West  India  Com- 
pany was  formed,  and  then  serious  efforts  were  made  to  settle 
the  country. 

Fort  Nassau,  which  had  been  built  south  of  Albany, 
was  moved  to  the  site  of  Albany  and  called 
Fort  Orange.     Another  Fort  Nassau  was  built 
on  the   Delaware   River,   where   Gloucester, 
N.  J.,  is  now,  and  a  third  fort,  Good  Hope, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  where  Hart- 
ford is.      Manhattan  Island  (now  a  part  of 
New  York  city)  was  next  bought  from  the 
Indians  for  a  few   dollars'    worth    of   goods, 
and    Fort  Amsterdam,   a    blockhouse    with   a 
high  stockade  backed  with  earth,  was  erected 
on  the  south  end  of  it.      Outside  the  fort  was 
Dutch  soldier         a  row  of  log  huts. 


The  Dutch 
fur  trade 


Dutch  forts 


74 


THE   MIDDLE   COLONIES 


Dutch 
settlers 


Extent  of 
New  Nether- 
land 


Early  view  of  New  Amsterdam 
{From  an  old  print) 

As  yet  but  few  people  came  to  settle  and  farm  ;  almost  all 
the  inhabitants  were  traders  who  intended  to  go  back  to  Hol- 
land as  soon  as  they  had  made  some  money  in  the  fur  trade. 
The  West  India  Company  therefore  offered  a  great  induce- 
ment to  settlers.  Any  man  who  within  four  years  established 
a  colony  of  fifty  persons  was  to  receive  an  immense  tract  of 
land. 

The  owner  of  such  a  tract  was  called  a  patroon,  and  in  a 
little  while  a  number  of  patroons  were  settled  along  the  Hud- 
son River  and  on  the  Delaware.  The  Delaware  settlements 
were  short-lived,  for  the  Indians  drove  the  Dutch  away.  But 
those  on  the  Hudson  throve,  and  soon  others  were  made  on 
Long  Island  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  River. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  New  Netherland,  as  the  Dutch 
called  their  American  possessions,  extended  from  the  Delaware 
to  the  Connecticut  River,  and  included  most  of  Long  Island 
and  the  valley  of  the  Hudson  River. 

After  a  time,  some  of  the  officers  of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company,    disgusted   at   the    way   its    affairs   were    managed. 


THE    MIDDLE   COLONIES 


75 


formed  the  South  Company  and  went  to  Sweden  for  settlers.  Swedish 
They  sent    out  a  colony  of  Swedes,  founded   a  town   on  the  settlers 
Delaware,  on  the  site  of  Wilmington,  and  called  the  country 
New  Sweden. 

This  alarmed  the  Dutch.  They  were  afraid  the  Swedes 
were  going  to  have  the  country,  so  they  built  a  fort  on  the 
Delaware  River  just  above  the  Swedish  fort.  Thereupon  the 
Swedes  went  higher  up  the  river  and  built  another  fort,  near 
the  present  city  of  Philadelphia.  Not  content  with  this,  they 
next  attempted  to  make  things  so  uncomfortable  for  the  Dutch 
that  they  would  leave. 

But  the  governor  of  New  Netherland,  Peter  Stuyvesant, 
a  fiery,  energetic  man,  came  over  from  New  Amsterdam  with 
a  band  of  soldiers, 
took  possession  of  all 
the  Swedish  land,  that 
is,  a  strip  west  of 
Delaware  River  and 
Bay,  and  added  it  to 
New  Netherland. 

Stuyvesant  also 
had  trouble  with  the 
English  in  New  Eng- 
land ;  but  here  he 
thought  it  best  not 
to   use   soldiers,   and 


Trouble  with 
the  English 


Old  Swedes'  church,  Wilmington 


at   last   the    English  settlers  crowded  the  Dutch   out   of   the 
Connecticut  valley. 

The  presence  of  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson,  the  Delaware, 
and  Long  Island  was  dangerous  to  the  English.  It  would 
never  do  to  have  New  England  cut  off  from  Virginia  and  the 
country  south  of  it  by  the  Dutch  colony  of  New  Netherland. 


76 


THE    MIDDLE   COLONIES 


:H:^ 


The  English 
take  New 
Netherland 


So  King  Charles  II.  of  England  raised  the  old  claim  to  the 
whole  Atlantic  coast,  and  gave  New  Netherland  to  his  brother 
the  Duke  of  York  (who  afterward  became  King  James  II.). 

A  fleet  wae.  next  sent  to  en- 
force this  claim,  and  one  fine 
day  the  English  ships  dropped 
anchor  off  the  little  Dutch 
town  of  New  Amsterdam. 

The  Englishman  in  com- 
mand of  the  fleet  promptly 
sent  a  letter  to  Governor 
Stuyvesant,  asking  him  to 
surrender  the  town.  Stuy- 
vesant was  for  righting.  "  I 
would  rather  be  carried  out 
dead,"  said  he,  "than  give  up 
the  fort."  But  nobody  would 
help  him.  The  people  saw 
that  it  would  be  useless  to 
resist,  the  Dutch  flag  on  Fort 
Amsterdam  came  down,  the 
English  flag  went  up,  and 
New  Netherland  became  the 
property  of  the  Duke  of 
York  (1664). 

Because  of  this  high- 
handed act,  a  war  followed  between  Holland  and  England. 
When  it  was  over,  England  gave  some  islands  in  the  East 
Indian  seas  to  Holland,  and  kept  New  Netherland.  New 
Amsterdam  now  became  New  York,  and  Fort  Orange  was 
named  Albany.  A  few  years  later  England  and  Holland  were 
again  at  war,  and  one  August  morning  a  fleet  of  Dutch  ships 


Stuyvesant's  pear  tree,  New  York 

(Fro7n  an  old  print) 


THE   MIDDLE    COLONIES 


77 


anchored  off  the  city  of  New  York,  six  hundred  Dutch  soldiers 
came  ashore,  and  the  province  was  once  more  under  Dutch  rule. 
Before  a  year  had  passed,  however,  peace  was  made,  and  the 
province  a  second  time  became  English. 

The  province  of  New  York,  as  it  was  called,  at  first  New  York 
included  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Long  Island,  Nantucket, 
Marthas  Vineyard,  and  all  the  country  from  the  Connecticut 
boundary  to  the  sources  of  the  Hudson,  the  Mohawk,  and  the 
Delaware  rivers. 
^  The  same  year  in 
which  the  Dutch  made 
their  first  surrender 
to  England,  the  Duke 
of  York  gave  a  great 
piece  of  his  province 
to  two  of  his  friends, 
Lord  Berkeley  and 
Sir  George  Carteret. 
It  was  called  New 
Jersey  because  Car- 
teret had  been  gov- 
ernor of  the  island  of 
Jersey  in  the  English 
Channel.  New  Jer- 
sey was  next  divided 
into  two  parts,  called 
East  Jersey  and  West 
Jersey,  which  were 
bought  by  two  com- 
panies  of  Friends  or 

Quakers.  Afterwards  the  Jerseys  were  united  again,  and 
formed  one  royal  province  or  colony  controlled  by  the  King. 


fl    ATLANTIC 
OCEAN 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


New  Jersey 


The  Middle  Colonies 


78 


THE   MIDDLE   COLONIES 


William  Penn 


Friends  or 
Quakers 


Wooden  plow 


-^ 


One  of  the  members  of  the  company  of  Friends  that  pur- 
chased East  Jersey  was  William  Penn,  who  became  so  deeply 
interested  in  America  that  he  made  up  his  mind  to  plant 
a  colony  of  his  own.  Penn  was  the  son  of  an  English 
admiral  who  had  served  his  coun- 
try well  and  had  been  a  true 
friend  to  the  King  in  time  of 
need.  Moreover,  a  great  sum  of 
money,  due  by  the  King  to  Penn's 
father  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  still  unpaid.  When,  there- 
fore, Penn  proposed  to  take  as  payment  of  the  debt  a  tract  of 
wilderness  on  the  Delaware,  King  Charles  II.  very  willingly 
consented,  gave  him  the  land,  and  named  it  Pennsylvania,  or 
Penn's  Woodland,  in  honor  of  the  admiral.  For  this,  Penn 
was  to  pay  to  the  King  of  England  two  beaver  skins  each  year. 
This  tribute  was  duly  paid  by  the  Penn  family  for  ninety-nine 
years,  or  until  about  the  time  that 
the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  became 
an  independent  state,  when  the 
United  States  became  free  from 
Great  Britain. 

The  Friends  taught  that  all 
men  should  live  peaceably  ;  that 
there  should  be  no  armies,  no 
wars,  no  lawsuits.  Such  a  people, 
it  would  seem,  might  have  been 
allowed  to  go  about  their  business 
unmolested.  But  they  were  not. 
In  England  they  were  imprisoned, 
flogged,  even  put  to  death.     One 

of  Penn's  purposes,  therefore,  was  to  do  for  the  Friends  in 
Pennsylvania  what  the  Puritans  had  done  for  themselves  in 


William  Penn 


THE   MIDDLE   COLONIES 


79 


Penn's  house 
(Now  standing  in  Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia) 


New  England  ;  that  is,  found 
a  colony  where  they  could 
live  and  worship  as  they 
pleased.  But  he  did  more  ; . 
he  opened  his  colony  to 
men  of  every  religion  and 
every  nation. 

If  you  look  on  the 
map,  you  will  notice  that 
Pennsylvania  has  no  sea- 
coast.  Penn,  therefore, 
bought  from  the  Duke  of 
York  what  is  now  Dela- 
ware state,  and  added  it 
to  Pennsylvania. 

As  soon  as  Penn  re- 
ceived his  land,  three  ships  with  colonists  set  sail.  One  was 
driven  by  storms  into  the  West  Indies.  The  others  reached 
the  Delaware  and  anchored  off  the  little  Swedish  town  of 
Upland,  or  Chester,  as  it  is  now  called,  and  were  there  locked 
in  the  ice.  The  Swedes  did  all  they  could  for  the  comfort  of 
the  newcomers  ;  but  many,  unable  to  get  other  shelter,  dug 
caves  in  the  ground  or  built  earth  huts,  and  there  Penn  found 
them  when  he  came  over  in  the  follow- 
ing autumn. 

Though  Penn  was  absolute  owner  of  Penn  and 
the  soil,  he  believed  the  Indians  had  some  theIndians 
rights,  and  soon  after  arriving  in  Penn- 
sylvania he  sent  .  for  the  neighboring 
chiefs.  They  met  him  on  the  banks  of 
the  Delaware,  under  a  huge  elm,  bargained  for  the  sale  of  a 
great  tract  of   land,  smoked  the  pipe   of  peace,  and  made   a 


Straw  bee  hive 


80 


THE    MIDDLE   COLONIES 


Philadelphia 


Welsh 
settlers 


Penn  wampum  belt 

treaty  that  was  never  broken.  The  two  parties  then  exchanged 
presents.  That  from  the  Indians  was  a  wampum  belt  on  which 
are  the  figures  of  an  Indian  and  a  white  man  hand  in  hand. 

Three  agents  sent  with  the  colonists  had  meanwhile  chosen 
the  site  for  a  great  town  which  Penn  called  Philadelphia,  and 
to  this  spot  twenty-three  ships  filled  with  settlers  came  during 
the  following  summer. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  most  of  the  people  who  came  to 
Philadelphia  were  Welsh.  Penn  gave  these  people  a  great 
tract  of  country  west  of  the  Schuylkill  River.     This  was  called 

the  Welsh  Barony,  but  is 
now  known  as  the  Welsh 
Tract.  It  may  be  found  on 
a  large  map  of  Pennsylvania 
by  the  Welsh  names  of  the 
towns.1  After  1700,  very 
few  Welsh  people  came  to 
Pennsylvania  ;  but  each 
year  brought  more  and  more 
English,  German,  and 
Scotch-Irish  settlers. 

Emigrants     from     Hol- 
land   and    Germany    came 
over  almost  as  soon  as  Penn  himself  and  planted  Germantown, 
then  on  the  outskirts  but  now  within  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
1  Such  as  Bryn  Mawr,  Radnor,  Merion,  Narberth,  Gladwyne. 


An  old  Germantown  house 

(Chew  House) 


THE    MIDDLE   COLONIES 


81 


The   great   German   immigration,  however,  did  not  begin  till  German 
some  years  later.     Queen  Anne  was  then  on  the  British  throne, 
and  the  rulers  of  Great  Britain,  thinking  it  was  not  wise  to 
allow  so  many  Englishmen  to  go  to  the  colonies,  began  to  look 
abroad  for  immigrants.      In  a  certain  part  of  Germany  known 
as  the  Palatinate,  the  people,  oppressed  by  war   and  poverty, 
were  at  that  time  most  unhappy,  and  to  them  the  British 
rulers   turned.       Books   were   written   telling   all   about 
America  and  distributed  among  them.      On  the  covers 
of  each  book  were  a  picture  of  Queen  Anne  and  some 
gold  letters,  which  gave  it  the  name  of  the  Golden  Book. 

The  effect  of  these  books  was  so  great  that  in  two 
years  thirty  thousand  Germans  crossed  to  England. 
They  were  sheltered  in  tents  on  the  fields  near  London 
and  taken  as  quickly  as  possible,  some  to  Ireland,  but 
most  to  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  the  Carolinas. 

Thus  started,  a  regular  trade  in  emigrants  grew  up, 
and  became  so  profitable  that  the  custom  arose  of 
sending  men  to  Germany  to  urge  and  persuade  peo- 
ple to  emigrate.  All  sorts  of  wicked  lies  were  told 
the  peasants,  and  if  they  could  not  afford  to  pay 
their  passage  they  were  induced  to  go  as  redemp- 
tioners. 

About  seventy-five  years  before  Penn  founded  his  colony,  The 
a  great  number  of  Scotchmen  went  from  Scotland  to  Ireland.  Scotch-Insh 
They  were  encouraged  to  go  and  live  on  land  taken  from  Irish- 
men who  had  rebelled  against  Queen  Elizabeth  and  James  I. 
A  little  later,  when  England  was  ruled  by  Oliver  Cromwell, 
more  Irish  land  was  seized  and  still  other  Scotchmen  and  some 
Englishmen  were  induced  to  go  over  to  Ireland  and  live  there. 
The  descendants  of  these  people  were  the  Scotch-Irish,  and  about 
twenty  years  after  Pennsylvania  was  founded  they  began  to 


Warming  pan 


82 


THE   MIDDLE   COLONIES 


scotch-irish  come  to  the  colonies  in  America.      Some  went  to  Maryland, 
others  to  Virginia,  others  to  New  Hampshire.      Indeed,  they 
were    to    be    found    scattered    along    the 
whole  frontier  from  New  Hampshire  to 
Georgia. 

But  Pennsylvania  was  the  favor- 
ite colony  of  the  Scotch-Irish,  and 
to  it  they  came  in  far  greater  num- 
bers than  to  any  other.    Once  there, 
they  were  brought  in  contact  with 
*     the  Germans,  and  the  meeting  was 
anything  but  peaceful.     So  serious  did 
their  quarrels  become,  that  the  agent 
of  Penn  was  told  to  keep  the  two  races 
Scotch-Irish  were   sent   to   live    along   the 


A  corn  sheller 


separate,  and   the 

Maryland  border  and  on  the  western  frontier. 


SUMMARY 

1.  Henry  Hudson,  an  Englishman  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch,  entered  New 

York  Bay  and  sailed  up  the  river  that  now  bears  his  name  (1609). 

2.  The  Dutch  sent  traders  to  the  Hudson  valley,  made  large  grants  of  land 

to  men  who  would  bring  out  settlers,  claimed  the  country  from  the 
Delaware  to  the  Connecticut  River,  and  called  it  New  Netherland. 

3.  Some  Swedes  settled  on  the  Delaware  River  and  called  their  country  New 

Sweden,  but  New  Sweden  was  soon  taken  by  the  Dutch. 

4.  Then  the  English  took  New  Netherland  from  the  Dutch.     It  was  given 

to  the  Duke  of  York,  who  named  it  New  York. 

5.  The  Duke  gave  a  piece  of  it  to  two  friends,  who  established  the  colony 

of  New  Jersey. 

6.  William  Penn  obtained  from  the  English  King  a  grant  of  land   and 

founded  Pennsylvania.    He  also  bought  some  land  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Delaware  River,  which  is  now  the  state  of  Delaware. 
f* .  The  liberal  policy  of  Penn  attracted  many  Welsh,  German,  and  Scotch- 
Irish  settlers,  as  well  as  English,  to  Pennsylvania. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES 


83 


CHAPTER   IX 


THE    SOUTHERN   COLONIES 

For  a  long  time  Maryland  and  Virginia  were  the  only 
southern  colonies.  But  some  thirty  years  after  the  gift  of 
Maryland  to  Lord  Baltimore,  King  Charles  II.  made  a  new 
colony  south  of  Virginia,  which  he  called  Carolina  and  gave 
to  eight  of  his  friends  (1663). 

Emigrants  from  Virginia  had  already  settled  on  Albemarle  Early 
Sound.      Others,  from  Barbados  Island  in  the  West  Indies,  se"lemfnts 

"     in    Parnlma 

came    to    Cape    Fear 


in  Carolina 


River  about  the  time 
King  Charles  made 
the  grant ;  and  to 
these  two  settlements 
the  proprietors  soon 
added  a  third,  at 
Charleston.  But  as 
time  passed  Charles- 
ton grew  and  throve, 
and  the  Cape  Fear 
settlement  dwindled 
till  it  completely  dis- 
appeared, and  there 
were  left  but  two  set- 
tlements :  the  one  on 
Albemarle  Sound,  and 
the  other  lying  about  Charleston.  Besides  the  English  settlers, 
there  came  also,  in  time,  Huguenots  from  France,  Swiss,  Ger- 
mans, and  Scotch  Highlanders. 

Between  the  Albemarle  and  Charleston  settlements  was  a 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


The  Carolinas  and  Georgia 


84 


THE   SOUTHERN   COLONIES 


North        vast   stretch   of   wilderness;    neither    colony  cared    about  the 

and  south  otner;   they  }iaci  been  founded  by  two  very  different  sorts  of 

people,  and  soon  began  to  be  spoken  of  as  North 

Carolina  and  South  Carolina.      But  it  was  many 

years  before  Carolina  was  actually  so  divided  into 

two  distinct  provinces. 

The  two  were  very  unlike.  In  North  Caro- 
lina the  people  lived  on  small  plantations,  where 
fcorn  and  tobacco  were  raised  by  a  few  slaves. 
In  South  Carolina  the  white  population  was  not 
so  numerous  as  in  North  Carolina,  but  was  much 
richer,  and  owned  immense  plantations,  where 
great  gangs  of  slaves  raised  indigo  and  rice. 
Then,  too,  the  wealthy  planters  lived  chiefly 
in  Charleston,  carried  on  a  brisk  trade  with 
Europe,  and  sent  their  sons  to  England  to  be 
educated. 

In  one  other  respect 

Huguenot  gentleman      mi\[^Q   their   sister    colo- 

warcl.        During    some    years 
fested  by  pirates.     About  the 
English  were  settling  at  James- 
Massachusetts,  there  appeared  in  the 
islands  of  the  West  Indies  a  graceless 
rovers  called  buccaneers,  or  Brethren  of  the 
they   called  themselves.      From  their  island 
holds  they  sallied  forth  to  make  attacks  on  the 
of  the  West   Indies   and  even  of   South  America, 
ing  and  plundering  towns  and  doing  all  manner  of  hor 
acts,  and  capturing  the  merchant  ships  of  all  nations. 
When  these  things  had  gone  on  for  half  a  century 
and  more,  England  and  Spain  thought  it  was  time  to 


The 
buccaneers 


\ 


the  Carolinas  were 
nies  to  the  north- 
they  were    in- 
time  when  the 
town  and  in 
waters   and 
set  of  sea 
Coast,  as 
strong- 
coasts 


Rice 


THE   SOUTHERN  COLONIES 


85 


put  a  stop  to  buccaneering;    and  about  the  time  Charleston 
was  founded  a  treaty  was  made  for  that  purpose.     It  was  called 
the  Treaty  of  America.     But  to  put  down  these  desperate  free-  The  pirates 
booters  was  not  easy,  and  when  settlements  sprang  up  on  the  m  Carolma 
Carolina  coast  the  pirates  found  it  easy  to 
win   over  the  people  to  their   side.     They 
brought  goods  and  articles  of  all  sorts  that 
the  settlers  could  not  get  in  any  other 
way;   were  liberal  with  their  gold,  and 
paid  good  prices  for  the  rice,  tobacco, 
and  other  things  they  wanted.      More- 
over, the   people    and   the   rulers  were 
afraid    of   them.        Men   who   thought 
nothing  of  tossing  the  crew  of  a  cap- 
tured vessel  into  the  sea,  who  were 
known  to  have  cut  off  the  heads  of  pris- 
oners for  mere  sport,  and  had  taken  and 
plundered  towns  better  defended    and 
many  times  larger  than  Charleston,  were 
not  to  be  trifled  with. 

As  a  result,  Charleston  became  a    *"* 
favorite  haunt  of  the  pirates,  and  would 
have   continued    to  be   so  had  they  not 
begun  to  plunder  the  ships  that  came  to  South  Carolina  for 
rice.     Then  the  planters  realized  that  if  this  plundering  went  south 
on,  the  ships  would  keep  away ;  that  if  vessels  did  not  come,  c 
their  rice  could  not  be  sent  to  Europe  ;   and  that  if  it  did  not 
get  to  Portugal  and  Holland,  they  might  better  not  raise  it  at 
all.     Now,  as  rice  was  the  chief  crop  of  South  Carolina,  the 
pirates  were  thenceforth  looked  on  as  enemies,  and  every  year 
numbers  of  them  were  to  be  seen  swinging  in  chains  from  the 
gallows  in  Charleston. 


Indigo  plant 


expels  pirates 


MtM.   PR.    H. 


86 


THE   SOUTHERN  COLONIES 


The  pirate 
Blackbeard 


Driven  from  South  Carolina,  the  buccaneers  found  refuge 
in  the  island  of  New  Providence,  one  of  the  Bahamas,  and  in 
the  sounds  and  rivers  of  North  Carolina,  where  the  people 
were  still  glad  to  see  them.  But  when  a  British  fleet  drove 
the  pirates  from  New  Providence,  they  returned  to  South 
Carolina,  not  as  friends,  but  as  enemies.     One  of  them  was  a 

wretch     whose     name     was 
Robert  Thatch,  but  who  was 
generally   known    as    Black- 
beard.    He  was  the  very  ideal 
of  a  pirate  chief.     His  brow 
was  low,  his  eyes  were  small, 
his  huge  shaggy  beard,  black 
as  coal,  came  far  down  on  his 
breast,  and  over  his  shoulder 
hung  three  braces  of  pistols. 
He  had  been   the    terror   of 
the  coast  for  years  before  he 
appeared  one  day  off  the  port 
of  Charleston  with  a  fine  frig- 
ate  of  forty  guns  and  three 
sloops  well  armed  and  manned 
by  four  hundred  desperadoes. 
Despite    his    presence    in 
the  neighborhood,  a  number 
of  ships  set  sail  from  Charles- 
ton in  hopes  that  he  might 
not  catch  them.     But  all  were  taken,  and  in  one  were  several 
citizens  of  importance.     These  made  a  rich  prize,  and  before 
Levies  tribute  giving  them  up,  Blackbeard  forced  the  governor  of  South  Caro- 
on  Charleston  ]jna  ^0  senc[  him  a  full  supply  of  such  medicines  and  provisions 
as  he  stood  in  need  of.     Then  he  went  off  to  North  Carolina. 


Blackbeard 


THE    SOUTHERN   COLONIES 


87 


The  affair  with  Blackbeard  seems  to  have  made 
the  governor  vigilant,  and  later  in  the  same  summer, 
hearing  of  another  pirate  on  the  coast,  he  sent  two 
armed  ships  in  pursuit.     The  newcomer  was  none 
other  than  the  famous  Stede  Bonnet.      He  was 
found  at  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  River,  where  a 
fight  began,  in  the  course  of  which  all  the  ships  went 
aground.     The  first  to  float  was  one  of  the  govern- 
or's ships,  and  just  as  her  captain  was  preparing 
for  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  the  pirate  surrendered, 
and  with  all  his  crew  was  hanged  in  chains. 

Just  about  the  time  that  piracy  disappeared 
from  our  southern  coast,  the  last  of  the  thirteen 

colonies    was     created 


Adjustable  candlestick 


Colonial  china  closet 


was     created    by    King 
George  II.     It  was  then  the  cus-  English 

/-<         i    t>    -j_    •      j_  •  debtors' 

torn  m  Great  Britain  to  imprison  prisons 
men    and  women    for    debt 
and   to   keep    them    in    jail 
till  they  died,  even  though 
the  sum  of  money  they  owed 
was  but  a  few  pennies.    Now 
it  so  happened  that  James 
Oglethorpe,  a  gallant   sol- 
sti    dier  and  officer  of  dis- 
tinction, having  lost  a  friend 
in    the    debtor's    prison    at 
London,  gave  his  attention 
to  the  jails  and  the  suf- 
fering of  the  prisoners. 
Oglethorpe     was     so 
horrified    at    what   he    saw 
that  he  made  up  his  mind 


88 


THE   SOUTHERN   COLONIES 


The  thirteenth 
colony- 
planned 


Creek  Indian 


Georgia 
settled 


to  help  these  unfortunate  people,  and  persuaded 
the  government  to  set  them  free  provided  they 
settled  in  America.      He  might   have  taken 
them  to  one  of  the  thinly  inhabited  old  colo- 
nies, but  he  thought  it  best  to  make  a  new 
colony,  and  it  so  happened  that  just  at  that 
time  a  new  one  was  much  needed.      Great 
Britain  claimed  our  coast  as  far  south  as  the 
St.  Johns  River  in  Florida  ;  but  the  strip  be- 
tween   the   Savannah   and   the   St.    Johns  was 
wholly  uninhabited  by  white  men  and  was  in  dan- 
ger of  being  occupied  by  the  Spaniards,  who  still 
held  St.  Augustine. 

Oglethorpe,  as  an  old  soldier,  saw  the  need  of 
keeping  the  Spaniards  out, 
and  decided  to  plant  his 
colony  south  of  the  Carolinas,  and  make 
it  serve  three  purposes.  First,  it  would 
be  a  home  for  distressed  debtors,  and 
give  them  a  chance  to  begin  life  anew. 
Second,  it  would  be  a  shield  or  buffer 
for  South  Carolina  against  the  Spaniards. 
Third,  it  would  open  a  fur  trade  with 
the  Creek  Indians. 

Some  rich  men  were  next  interested 
in  the  plan,  a  company  was  formed,  the 
King  granted  the  country  between  the 
Savannah  and  the  Altamaha  rivers,  and 
Oglethorpe  with  a  band  of  settlers  sailed 
across  the  Atlantic  to  Georgia,  as  he 
called  the  new  colony,  and  founded  the 
city  of    Savannah.       People   from   New  Colonial  mirror 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA?  89 

England,  Germans,  and  Scotch  Highlanders  soon  followed,  and 
to  Savannah,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  were  added  three 
other  settlements,  and  Augusta,  a  little  fortified  post  in  the 
heart  of  the  Indian  country.  There  the  English  came  in  con- 
tact with  French  traders  who  had  wandered  all  the  way  from 
Canada  in  search  of  furs. 

Both  in  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  the  attempt  of  associ-  change  in 
ations  of  men  to  manage  colonies  did  not  succeed.     The  pro-  gov 
prietors  of  Carolina  sold  their  province  back  to  the  King  a  few 
years  before  Georgia  was  founded,  and  finally  Georgia  also  was 
returned  to  him.     Thus  all  the   colonies   south  of  Maryland 
were  royal  provinces. 

SUMMARY 

1.  For  a  long  time  there  were  no  colonies  south  of  Virginia,  when  King 

Charles  II.  gave  a  tract  of  land  called  Carolina  to  eight  of  his  friends. 

2.  These  proprietors  or  owners  founded  Charleston. 

3.  At  first  North  Carolina  (where  some  Virginians  had  settled)  was  not  cut 

off  from  South  Carolina;  but  in  time  the  great  province  of  Carolina 
was  divided  into  two. 

4.  During  their  early  years  these  colonies  were  infested  by  pirates. 

5.  About  the  time  the  pirates  were  driven  off,  James  Oglethorpe  obtained  a 

grant  of  land  from  King  George  and  founded  a  colony  called  Georgia. 


CHAPTER   X 

SHALL   FRANCE   OR   ENGLAND   RULE   IN   AMERICA? 

Thirteen  colonies  had  now  been  planted  along  the  Atlantic  The  thirteen 
coast   by  the    English    or  had    come    under   English    control.  colonies 
These  were  the  four  New  England  Colonies  of  New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut ;    the  four  Mid- 
dle Colonies   of   New  York,  New   Jersey,   Pennsylvania,    and 


90  SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 

Delaware  ;  and  the  five  Southern  Colonies  of  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  They 
were  settled  mostly  by  Englishmen,  but 
also  by  Dutch,  Swedes,  Germans,  Welsh, 


Scotch-Irish,  and  French  Huguenots. 

Flintlock  pistol  '  & 

We  have  seen  that  some  of  these  colo- 
nies were  owned  by  the  King,  as  the  Carolinas  ;  others  by  pro- 
prietors—  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware.  We  have 
seen  the  reasons  why  people  came  to  this  country  ;  as,  a  desire 
to  worship  God  as  they  pleased,  or  a  desire  for  trade,  or  a  hope 
of  bettering  their  worldly  condition.  We  have  seen,  also,  some 
of  the  hardships  and  dangers  that  the  early  settlers  met. 
Massachusetts  We  must  now  notice  a  few  of  the  famous  events  in  colonial 
Kmg  history?  an(j  iearn  something  about  a  few  famous  men.  We  shall 
see  that  Indian  wars  and  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  frontier 
life  were  not  the  only  things  that  troubled  the  New  England 
people.  Rulers  who  should  have  been  their  best  friends  were 
little  better  than  enemies,  and  one  such  ruler  was  King  Charles 
II.  As  we  have  seen  (page  63),  he  took  away  New  Hampshire 
from  Massachusetts  and  made  it  a  separate  royal  colony.  He 
next  demanded  that 
Maine,  which  Massa- 
chusetts bought  from 
the  heir  of  Gorges, 
should  also  be  given  up  to  him.  He  was  willing  to  buy  it,  but 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  would  not  sell.  Thereupon  for 
this  and  other  reasons  he  took  away  their  charter. 
a  charter         To  understand  what  this  charter  was,  we  must  remember 

1.  That  all  the  land  in  America  claimed  by  the  English  was 
supposed  to  belong  at  first  to  the  King  to  do  with  as  he 
pleased. 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA?     91 

2.  That  it  had  pleased  the  King  to  give  the  soil  of  Massachu- 

setts to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  and  also  to  give 
this  company,   or  the   settlers,  the   right  to 
govern  themselves. 

3.  That  the  boundaries  of  the  land  he  gave, 

and  the  rights  the  people  should  have, 
wcr*   writter,  &ot  ;     cm    a   piece    of 
parchment  and  signed  In  ill*  King. 

Now,   this   written   and    signed 
parchment  was  the  charter,  and 
when  the  King  took  away  the 
charter,  he  claimed  that  the  peo- 
ple had  lost  the  right  to  govern 
themselves,  and  that  he  was   free 
to  rule  them  as  he  pleased.  Indian  tomahawks 

King  Charles  II.  was  a  tyrant,  and  was  beginning  to  govern  Governor 
harshly  when  he  died.  His  brother  James  (the  owner  of  New  Andros 
York)  then  became  king  and  demanded  the  charters  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut.  Rhode  Island  gave  up  her  charter; 
but  Connecticut  did  not,  and  when  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  the 
royal  governor  of  New  England,  came  to  Hartford  and  de- 
manded the  parchment,  an  amusing  thing  happened.  The 
rulers  of  Connecticut  were  determined  that  he  should  not  have 
it,  and  kept  up  the  discussion  with  Andros  till  it  was  dark  and 
the  candles  had  been  lighted.  Then,  upon  a  sudden,  the 
candles  were  put  out,  and  when  they  were  lighted  again,  the 
charter,  which  had  been  lying  on  the  table,  was  gone.  Captain  The  charter 
Wadsworth  had  carried  it  off,  and,  it  is  said,  hid  it  in  the 
hollow  of  an  oak  tree,  known  ever  after  as  the  Charter  Oak. 
The  tree  blew  down  many  years  ago,  and  the  spot  is  now 
marked  by  a  monument. 


92 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA  ? 


*       1  ,#  •(L-'rfiM.V     ^'?., 


;m     a     yN    e   ^vl      .-<  0  ;     ^ 

V<  '^/^  0    E    1    * 


<Boston  £- 

)       ^C.Cod  \> 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


200 


New  England  and  Acadia 


Charters 
restored 


Though  Andros  did  not  get  the  charter,  he  ruled  Connecti- 
cut as  he  pleased,  and  the  King  soon  placed  the  whole  country 
from  New  Jersey  to  Maine  under  his  control. 

But  James  did  not  remain  king  long.  The  people  of 
England  drove  him  from  the  throne,  and  made  his  nephew 
William  and  his  daughter  Mary  king  and  queen  (1689). 
Then  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  again  governed  them- 
selves under  their  old  charters,  and  Massachusetts  was  given 
a  new  one. 
King  James  went  to  France,  and  the  French    King   made  war 

war  begun  on  England.  In  our  country  this  war  was  called  King 
William's  War,  and  was  soon  followed  by  other  wars  between 
the  French  and  the  English.  Thus  in  this  country  there  was 
fighting  for  nearly  forty  years  to  decide  whether  the  French, 
who  owned  Canada  and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  or  the 
English,  who  held  the  Atlantic  seacoast,  should  rule  over 
America. 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


England 
frontier 


The  fighting  began  a  year  before  William  became  king 
with  some  attacks  by  the  English  on  the  Indians  in  Maine. 
The  Indians  of  course  attacked  the  English  settlements  in 
return,  and  even  had  William  never  been  king  there  would 
surely  have  been  a  great  war  with  them  and  their  French 
friends.  But  just  then  France  and  England  went  to  Avar  over 
the  exiled  King  James,  and  the  conflict  in  America  began  in 
earnest. 

If  you  will  take  a  map  of  our  country  and  draw  a  line  from  The  New 
Penobscot  Bay,  in  Maine,  to  Albany,  in  New  York,  you  will 
have  the  New  England  frontier  at  this  time.  Now,  if  you 
notice  where  the  rivers  of  this  region  rise  and  in  what  direction 
they  flow,  you  will  see  how  easy  it  was  for  the  French  and 
Indians  to  follow  down  these  river  valleys  from  Canada  to 
attack  the  English  frontier  towns  and  settlements.  One  of 
these  wTas  Dover  in  New  Hampshire,  then  on  the  very  edge 
of  the  frontier.  Like  most  such  settlements,  it  was  an  open 
village  guarded  b}r  blockhouses,  to  which  the  people  were  to 
come  in  times  of  danger. 

At  these  blockhouses  some  squaws  appeared 
one  evening  in  January,  1689,  asked  leave  to 
stay  all  night,  and  were  admitted.  But  in  the 
dead  of  night,  when  all  was  still,  they  rose 
quietly,  undid  the  bars,  opened  the  doors,  and 
gave  a  loud  whistle.  Instantly  a  band  of  war- 
riors that  had  crept  into  the  village  sprang  up, 
rushed  into  the  houses,  and  began  a  horrible 
massacre.  Then,  after  plundering  and  burning 
the  houses,  they  marched  twenty-nine  captives  off 
to  Canada  and  sold  them  to  the  French  as 
slaves.  This  was  in  return  for  the  English 
custom  of  selling  Indian  prisoners  into  slavery.  a  squaw 


94     SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 

Among  the  prisoners  was  a  little  girl  named  Sarah  Gerrish, 
seven  years  old.  Once  started  on  their  homeward  journey,  the 
Indians,  as  was  their  custom,  first  divided  their  prisoners,  and 
then  split  up  into  separate  bands.  The  band  to  which  little 
Sarah  belonged  took  her  to  their  village,  where  her  owner  sold 
her  to  another  Indian,  who  went  off  with  her  to  Canada.  On 
the  way  she  suffered  much  from  cold  and  hunger.  At  Quebec 
the  wife  of  a  French  officer,  moved  by  pity,  bought  her  and 
placed  her  in  a  convent, 
colonists  What  happened  at  Dover  was  repeated  at  several  other 
Quebec  -  places  Dv  Indian  war  parties  sent  by  the  governor  of  Canada. 
The  colonists  then  struck  back  by  sending  soldiers  and  a  fleet 
of  ships  from  Boston  to  take  Quebec.  They  failed,  but  the 
commander  of  the  fleet  rescued  little  Sarah  Gerrish  by  giving 
a  French  prisoner  in  exchange. 

In  this  way  the  war  went  on  for  eight  years.  Town  after 
town  was  laid  waste ;  men,  women,  and  children  were  slain, 
tortured,  or  carried  into  captivity.  One  day  in  the  early  spring 
of  1697,  as  a  farmer  named  Thomas  Dustan  was  riding  from  his 
Haverhm  home  in  Haverhill  to  his  farm,  he  saw  Indians  in  the  distance. 
At  his  home,  a  mile  from  the  nearest  garrison  house,  were  his 
wife  Hannah  Dustan,  a  nurse  Mary  Neff,  and  eight  children. 
Turning  about,  he  had  just  time  to  gallop  home  and  bid  the 
children  run  for  the  blockhouse,  when  the  Indians  were  upon 
him.  Keeping  the  enemy  at  bay  with  his  gun  till  the  children 
had  gone  some  distance,  Mr.  Dustan  then  rode  after  them, 
turned  about,  and  again  kept  back  the  pursuers  while  his  little 
family  trotted  bravely  on,  and  repeated  these  tactics  till  all 
were  safe  in  the  garrison  house. 

The  Indians  burned  the  farmhouses,  and,  leaving  many 
murdered  settlers  lying  in  the  smoking  ruins  of  their  homes, 
plunged  into  the  woods  with  thirteen  captives.     Mrs,  Dustan 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


95 


8L 


and  Mary  Neff  were  among  them,  and  fell  to  the  lot  of  an  Hannah 
Indian  family  of  two  braves,  three  women,  seven  children, 
and  an  English  lad,  Samuel  Leonardson,  who  for  a  year  and 
a  half  had  been  a  prisoner  in  their  hands.  The  presence  of 
this  boy  made  escape  seem  possible,  and  Mrs.  Dustan  deter- 
mined to  make  the  attempt. 

The  next  night,  accordingly,  when  the  Indians  were  sleep- 
ing, the  two  white  women  and  Leonardson  rose,  hatchet  in  hand, 
and  in  a  few  minutes'  time  killed  all  save  one  old  squaw  and 
one  boy.  Gathering  up  the  guns  and  tomahawks,  they  next 
destroyed  all  the  canoes  except  one,  in  which  they  paddled 
down  the  Merrimac  River  to  Haverhill. 
The  story  of  their  adventures  spread 
through  all  the  colonies  and  every- 
where the  people  praised  them. 

The  peace  which  ended  King 
William's  War  lasted  but  a  little 
while.      The    French    and    the 
English     were     soon     fighting 
once  more,  and,  as  Queen  Anne 
was    then    on    the    throne,   the 
colonists  called  the  long  strug- 
gle    of     twelve    years     Queen 
Anne's  War. 

Again  the  French  and  Indi- 
ans swept  along  the  New  Eng- 
land   frontier    year    after    year, 
burning,      torturing,      massacring. 
Haverhill    was     again     laid    waste ; 
Deerfield   in    the   Connecticut  valley 

was  burned,  and  many  of  its  inhabitants  were  killed  or  car- 
ried into  captivity. 


Monument  to  Mrs.  Dustan 


Queen 
Anne's  War 


96 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


Old  "Indian  house,"  Deerfield 


Deerfiew         As  Deerfield  lay  in  the  valley  of  a  great  river  which  rose 
near  Canada  and ,  offered  an  easy  highway  for  hostile  bands  of 

French  and  Indians,  most  of  the 
forty  houses  of  Deerfield  had 
been  surrounded  with  a  high 
stockade.  But  long  freedom 
from  attack  had  made  the  in- 
habitants careless.  The  stock- 
ade had  fallen  somewhat  into 
decajr,  and,  as  the  winter  of 
1704  was  very  severe,  the 
settlers  believed  they  were 
quite  safe.  They  had  allowed 
the  snow  to  pile  up  in  great 
drifts  against  the  stockade, 
and  kept  no  watch  at  night.  But  cold  and  bitter  as  the 
winter  was,  it  did  not  prevent  a  band  of  Indians  and  Cana- 
dians from  marching  down  the  valley  to  destroy  Deerfield. 
On  arriving  at  the  town  and  finding  no  watch,  a  few  Indians 
in  the  dead  of  night  climbed  one  of  the  snowdrifts,  dropped 
inside  the  stockade,  undid  the  bars  of  the  gate,  and  let  in  their 
companions,  who  rushed  in,  screeching  and  whooping  like  so 
many  fiends,  and  began  the  work  of  slaughter. 
The  captives  The  horrors  of  that  fearful  night  and  the  sufferings  of  the 
long  march  to  Canada  have  been  told  by  one  of  the  captives, 
John  Williams,  in  a  very  famous  book,  "  The  Redeemed  Cap- 
tive Returning  to  Zion  "  ;  and  in  a  museum  at  Deerfield  is  still 
kept  a  door,  through  which  the  Indians  chopped  a  hole  in  order 
to  shoot  the  people  in  the  house.  Only  two  houses  were  left 
standing ;  the  rest  were  burned,  and  in  or  around  them  lay  the 
bodies  of  nine  and  forty  settlers.  A  hundred  others  were  car- 
ried off  as  prisoners.     In  time  sixty  were  exchanged,  and  among 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


97 


them  Mr.  Williams.  But  strangely  enough,  his  ten-year-old 
daughter  was  adopted  by  one  of  the  tribes,  lived  with  it,  married 
an  Indian,  and  refused  to  return  to  her  own  people. 

Success,  however,  was  not  wholly  with  the  French.  The 
English  attacked  the  eastern  coast  of  Maine  (then  held  by  the 
French),  and  before  the  war  ended,  captured  the  Acadian  town 
of  Port  Royal,  which  they  named  Annapolis,  and  still  hold. 

When  peace  came,  the  French  gave  up  Acadia,  or  most  of 
what  is  now  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick.  Deserted  by 
their  allies,  the  Indians  made 
peace  and  signed  a  treaty 
binding  them  never  again  to 
harm  the  settlers. 

A  long  peace  of  thirty 
years  now  followed  for 
France  and  Great  Britain, 
but  not  for  the  New  England 
frontier.  The  war  over, 
great  numbers  of  settlers 
moved  eastward  to  rebuild 
the  desolated  towns  of  Maine, 
and  to  make  new  settlements 
upon  the  rivers.  The  arrival 
of  these  settlers,  building 
forts,  blockhouses,  and  homes 
on  land  the  Indians  claimed 
as  their  own,  made  new  trou- 
ble, and  again  and  again 
brought  on  border  wars  in 
Maine.  But  for  the  country  in  general  there  was  peace,  and 
France  turned  it  to  good  use.  It  was  clear  she  could  not  con- 
quer the  colonies.      She  must  therefore  confine  them  to  the 


Door  of  old  "Indian  house" 

{Noio  in  the  Deerfield  Museum) 


English  take 
Acadia 


A  period  of 
peace 


98 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


Growth  of 
New  Orleans 


coast,  else  in  time  they  would  surely  cross  the  mountains  into 
the  Mississippi  valley. 

We  left  the  story  of  the  French  in  our  country,  you  will 
remember,  after  learning  that  La  Salle  had  explored  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  its  mouth,  and  that  the  French  had  occupied  Mobile 
Bay,  and  started  New  Orleans. 

The  site  of  New  Orleans  was  chosen  by  Bienville,  one  of 
those  great  French  explorers,  soldiers,  and  frontiersmen  who 
did  so  much  to  spread  French  rule  in  America.     The  spot 
when  he  first  saw  it  was  a  piece  of  low  land  on  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  covered  with  cypress  swamp  and 
liable  every  year  to  be  flooded  with  the  waters  of  the 
great  river.      But  Bienville   felt  that  a   city  must  be 
built  on  the  river  somewhere  near  its  mouth,  and  as  no 
other   site   was  more   favorable  he  selected  this,  sur- 
rounded it  with  a  high,  strong  bank  of  earth  to  keep 
out  the  waters,  and  with  a  strange  band  of  French 
criminals  and  workmen  and  a  few  merchants  from 
Canada,  made  a  clearing,  put  up  a  few  cabins,  and 
named  the  place  New  Orleans. 

Unpromising  as  was  its  start,  the  place  grew,  and 
by  the  end  of  ten  years  some  sixteen  hundred  people 
were  within  its  mud  walls.  With  a  few  exceptions 
they  were  men  —  soldiers,  trappers,  galley  slaves,  or 
redemptioners.  Very  few  women  as  yet  found  a 
home  in  the  town.  The  French  King  therefore  determined 
to  do  for  New  Orleans  what  the  Virginia  Company  did  a 
hundred  years  before  for  Jamestown,  and  sent  over  a  ship 
loaded  with  sixty  young  women  to  become  the  wives  of  the 
better  sort  of  the  population.  They  were  in  the  charge  of 
casket  gins  nuns  and  had  each  received  from  the  King  a  little  trunk  full 
of  clothing.     Later  other  shiploads  of  maidens  came,  and  the 


French  soldier 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA?  99 

girls  with  trunks  were  long  known  by  the  proud  name  of 
"  casket  girls." 

While  these  things  were  happening  at  New  Orleans,  the  The  chain 
French  were  equally  busy  up  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi,  planting 
towns,  and  building,  on  the 
high  bluffs  and  along  the 
shores  of  the  Great  Lakes,  a 
line  of  forts  which  in  time  ex- 
tended from  Mobile  and  New 
Orleans  to  Montreal  and  Que- 
bec.   The  purpose  of  this  chain  0  „         .    ..  „      .  . .    . 

1       ?  Sally  port,  old  French  fort,  Annapolis 

of  forts  was  to  shut  the  British 

out  of  the  Mississippi  valley  and  all  approaches  to  it.  But  the 
French  were  also  determined  to  recapture  Annapolis  and  Nova 
Scotia  if  they  could,  and  as  a  step  toward  this  they  built  the 
fortress  and  town  of  Louisburg  on  a  fine  harbor  on  the  south- 
east coast  of  the  island  of  Cape  Breton.  The  fortress  was  very 
large  and  was  so  strong  that  the  French  believed  it  could  never 
be  captured. 

It  took  twenty-five  years  to  build  the  fortress  Louisburg,  King  George' 
and  soon  after  it  was  finished,  France  declared  war  on  Great  War 
Britain  (1744).     There  was  fighting  both  in  Europe   and  in 
America ;  but  the  war  on  this  side  of  the  ocean  was  called  by 
the  colonists  King  George's  War,  because  George  II.  was  then 
King  of  Great  Britain.      The  struggle  dragged  on  during  four 
years,  and  in  the  course  of  it  Louisburg,  which  the  French  Louisburg 
boasted  could  be  defended  by  women,  was  besieged  and  cap- 
tured by  New  England  militiamen.     But  their  toil  and  blood- 
shed was  all  wasted,  for  on  the  return  of  peace  Great  Britain 
gave  Louisburg  back  to  France,  and  affairs  in  America  were 
left  much  the  same  as  before. 


100 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


The  French 
claim  the 
Ohio  valley 


CHAPTER    XI 

SHALL  FRANCE   OR   ENGLAND   RULE   IN  AMERICA?    (Continued) 

With  their  flag  once  more  waving  over  Louisburg,  and  no 
territory  in  the  New  World  lost,  the  French  again  made  ready 
to  keep  the  British  out  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  As  the  Brit- 
ish were  planning  to  settle 
the  Ohio  valley,  the  governor 
of  Canada  sent  a  band  of  sol- 
diers to  take  formal  posses- 
sion of  that  region.  Starting 
from  a  place  near  Montreal, 
the  party  in  twenty -three 
birch  canoes  paddled  up  the 
St.  Lawrence,  crossed  Lake 
Ontario  to  the  Niagara  River, 
carried  their  canoes  on  their 
backs  around  Niagara  Falls, 
and  paddled  some  distance 
along  the  southeastern  shore 
of  Lake  Erie.  At  the  mouth 
of  a  small  creek  the  party 
left  Lake  Erie,  moved  their 


The  upper  Ohio  valley 


food,  canoes,  and  baggage  across  to  Chautauqua  Lake,  and 
paddled  down  the  lake  and  its  outlet  to  the  Allegheny  and  so 
to  the  Ohio. 

Once  on  the  Allegheny,  the  work  of  taking  possession  began. 
As  the  party  floated  along  it  would  stop  at  the  mouths  of  big 
streams  to  nail  a  tin  plate  to  a  tree  and  bury  a  lead  plate  in 
the  earth  at  its  roots.  On  the  plates  fastened  to  trees  were  the 
arms  of  France  ;   on  those  hidden  in  the  ground  were  inscrip- 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA?        101 


tions    stating    that    the    King    of  The  lead 
France  owned  the  Ohio  River  and  pa 
its  branches,  and  all  the  land  that 
shed  water  into  them. 

The  French  arms  were  probably 
soon  pulled  down  from  the  trees ; 
but  two  of  the  buried  plates  have 
since  been  found.  One  day,  about 
fifty  years  afterward,  while  some 
boys  were  swimming  in  the  Ohio, 
they  saw  a  great  plate  of  lead  stick- 
ing out  from  the  bank  of  the  river. 
What  it  was  they  did  not  know; 
but  it  was  made  of  lead,  and  taking 
it  home  they  melted  half  of  it  to 
make  bullets.  The  other  half  is 
now  carefully  preserved,  and  is 
shown  in  this  picture.  Another  of 
Half  of  one  of  the  lead  plates  the  lead  plates,  unearthed  by  a 
freshet,  was  likewise  found  by  a  boy  who  was  playing  on  the 
river  bank. 

But  the  French  knew  very  well  that  something  more  than  French  forts 
burying  plates  was  needed  to  keep  out  the  British,  so  they 
began  to  build  log  forts.      One  was   put  up 
where   the  city  of   Erie  now  stands,  and  two 
others  on  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Allegheny  River. 

When  the  governor  of  Vir-        / 
ginia    heard    of    this,    he   was 
greatly  alarmed,  because  Vir- 
ginia claimed  to  own  the  Alle- 
gheny valley.      He   decided  to 


WffiiS 


Fort  Le  Boeuf,  in  the  Allegheny  valley 


MCM.  PR.  h.  — 7 


102 


SHALL  TRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


command  the  French  to  leave,  and  finally  chose  as  his  messen- 
ger a  }roung  Virginian,  George  Washington. 
George  This  man,  whom  we  know  as  the  most  honored  of  Americans, 

as  mgton  wag  ^0YR  Qn  February  22,  1732,  in  Virginia.  He  was  a  big, 
strong,  active  boy,  fond  of  outdoor  life,  afraid  of  nothing,  and 
much  given  to  doing  whatever  he  had  to  do  in  the  best  way  he 
knew  how.  For  a  while  he  thought  of  going  to  sea,  in  the 
hope  that  he  might  some  day  become  the  captain  of  a  trading 
vessel.  But  the  idea  was  not  carried  out,  and  Washington 
fitted  himself  to  be  a  land  surveyor. 

Now  there  lived  in  Virginia  at  that  time  an  English  noble- 
man named  Lord 
Fairfax,  who  owned 
a  vast  estate  on  what 
was  then  the  fron- 
tier. Attracted  by 
the  manly  qualities 
of  the  3Toung  sur- 
veyor, Lord  Fairfax 
employed  him  to 
survey  his  lands,  and 
works  as  a  at  sixteen  years  of  age  Washington  plunged  into  the  wilderness 
and  began  his  work. 

So  well  did  he  do  it  that  Lord  Fairfax  procured  for  him  the 
place  of  public  surveyor  and  the  rank  of  major  in  the  militia, 
and  started  him  on  his  career.  But  he  was  soon  called  to  pub- 
lic service  of  a  greater  sort.  When  it  was  known  that  the 
French  were  in  the  Allegheny  valley,  Governor  Dinwiddie  of 
Virginia  sent  a  messenger  to  warn  them  to  depart.  But  the 
messenger  was  not  equal  to  the  task.  He  was  afraid,  and,  when 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away  from  the  French  forts,  turned 
back.     Plainly  a  brave  man  was  needed,  and,  on  looking  about 


Greenaway  Court,  home  of  Lord  Fairfax 


surveyor 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA?         103 


for  one,  the  governor  was  advised  by  Lord  Fairfax  to  choose 
Washington.  The  advice  was  taken,  and  Washington  was 
chosen. 

He  set  out  at  once  with  a  few  followers,  made  his  way  across  Takes 
swollen  streams  and  through  dense,  unbroken  forests,  found  the  French 
the  French,  delivered  the  governor's  letter,  and  started  home 
in  the  dead  of  winter.  New  difficulties  now  beset  him.  The 
Indians  tried  to  kill  him  and  came  near  doing  so.  He  was 
almost  drowned  while  crossing  a  river  and  nearly  frozen  when 
he  got  out.  But  he  escaped  all  dangers  and  brought  back  a 
report  of  what  he  saw  at  the  French  forts,  which  in- 
creased the  alarm  of  the  governor  of  Virginia. 

It  was  clear  that  if  the  British  wanted  the  valley 
of  the  Ohio  they  must  do  as  the  French  were  doing. 
They  must  build  forts  in  it  and  hold  it  by  force  of 
arms.     This  the  governor  of  Virginia  determined  to 
do,  and   a  regiment   of   troops  were  hurried   off   to 
establish    a   fort   just  where   the   city   of   Pittsburg 
stands  to-day.     Of   this    regiment   Washington  was 
lieutenant  colonel.      But   the    colonel   died   on  the 
way,  and  Washington  took  command. 

While  the  regiment  was  getting  ready  to  march 
through  the  wilderness,  a  small  party  went  on  in 
advance  to  build  the  fort  and  have  it  ready  when  the 
soldiers  arrived.  But  one  day  in  April,  1754,  while 
they  were  hard  at  work,  the  French  came  down  the 
Allegheny  Biver  and  drove  them  away. 

The  messenger  bearing  this  bad  news  met  Washington  and 
his  troops  making   their  way  through  the  forest,  cutting  the 
first  road  that  ever  led  down  the  western  slope  of  the  Appa- 
lachian Mountains.     Some  men  would  have  gone  back.     But  Beeins 
Washington  pushed  on,  defeated  a  small  party  of  the  French,  Indian  war 


French  soldier 


104 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 


Braddock's 
expedition 


and  then   retired   to  a  narrow  glade  in  southwestern 

Pennsylvania,  called  the  Great  Meadows.     There  he 

built  Fort  Necessity,  where  the  French  attacked  him 

and  forced  him  to  surrender,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1754. 

He  was  allowed  to  go  back  to  Virginia. 

Thus  was    started  one    of   the   most    important 
wars  in  our  history.     The  colonists  called  it  the 
French    and    Indian    War    because    they    fought 
Frenchmen    and    Indians.       But    it   was    really 
the  last  struggle  between   the   French  and  the 
British  for  the  possession   of  America.      We 
have    seen     how    the    Dutch    conquered    the 
Swedes    in    the    Delaware   valley.       We    have 
seen  how  the  English  conquered  New  Nether- 
land.      Now  the  British  and  the  French  were  to 
fight  for  the  greater  part  of  North  America. 

Both  sides  knew  this  and  made  ready  for  the 
The  French  prepared  to  defend  their  land.  The 
British  made  the  attack,  and  sent  over  Braddock,  one  of  their 
best  generals,  to  command  the  British  and  American  troops. 
He  came  to  Virginia ;  made  Washington  one  of  his  aids ;  and 
started  to  capture  Fort  Duquesne,  as  the  French  called  the  post 
they  had  taken  from  the  Virginians. 

Southwestern  Pennsylvania  was  then  a  wilderness.  No 
road  led  through  the  woods,  so  Braddock  was  forced  to  have 
one  cut  by  the  troops  as  they  went  along.  This  made  the 
march  very  slow.  Nothing  happened  till  the  army  was  about 
eight  miles  from  the  fort,  when  suddenly  the  road  choppers 
saw  what  looked  like  an  Indian  leaping  and  bounding  through 
the  bushes  in  front  of  them.  He  was  not  an  Indian,  but  a 
French  officer  in  Indian  dress,  and  was  leading  an  army  to 
attack  the  British.    Waving  his  hand  in  the  air,  he  disappeared  ; 


British  soldier 


struggle. 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA?        105 


and  in  a  moment  his  French  and  Indians,  hidden  in  bushes  and  Braddock's 
behind  trees,  fired  on  Braddock's  men.  The  British  fought 
bravely  ;  but  Braddock  would  not  let  them  hide  behind  trees 
in  Indian  fashion,  and  their  red  coats  were  a  fine  mark  for 
their  enemy.  So  many  were  shot  that  a  retreat  was  ordered. 
Then  Braddock  fell  wounded,  and  the  retreat  became  a  flight ; 
and  had  it  not  been  for  Washington  and  the  Americans,  who 
checked  the  enemy,  all  the  British  would  probably  have  been 
killed.     A  few  days  later,  Braddock  died  of  his  wound. 

And  now  for  three  years  the  French  and  Indians  had  the 
best  of  the  fighting.     Then  the  tide  turned,  and  the  British  British 
began  to  win  victory  after  victory.     They  took  Fort  Duquesne,  vlctones 
which  was  soon  named 
Fort  Pitt  in  honor  of 
a    great     man    then 
prominent      in      the 
British    government. 
They   took    the    for- 
tress at  Louisburg  a 
second  time.    Finally 
a  young  officer  named 
Wolfe  captured  Que- 
bec. 

The  fortress  of 
Quebec  stood  on  the  top  of  a  very  high  hill  whose  steep  sides  Quebec 
rose  from  the  edge  of  the  river.  To  climb  the  heights  in  the 
face  of  an  enemy  would  have  been  impossible.  But  Wolfe  sent 
his  ships  and  troops  up  the  river  above  Quebec,  and  one  night 
in  September,  1759,  he  and  his  soldiers  got  into  boats,  floated 
downstream  to  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  climbed  up,  and  in  the 
morning  his  army  stood  ready  for  battle  on  the  Plains  of  Abra- 
ham, as  the  level  land  behind  the  city  was  called.    The  French, 


Modern  Quebec 


106        SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA  ? 

led  by  Montcalm,  came  out  to  attack  the  British,  and  one  of  the 
great  battles  of  the  world  was  fought.  The  British  won,  and  Que- 
bec was  taken  ;  but  among  the  dead  were  Wolfe  and  Montcalm. 


Painting  by  Benjamin  West 


Death  of  General  Wolfe 


France  loses 
all  in 
America 


Montreal  was  next  taken,  and  the  struggle  for  America  be- 
tween France  and  Great  Britain  was  ended.  When  the  war 
began,  France  owned  Canada  and  claimed  all  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  from  the  Appalachian  Mountains  to  the 
Rockies,  and  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
When  the  war  ended,  France  gave  Great  Britain  all  of  Canada 
(except  two  little  islands  near  Newfoundland)  and  all  of  our 
country  which  she  claimed  east  of  the  Mississippi,  except  New 
Orleans  and  a  small  region  about  it  (1763). 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA?         107 


Up  to  this  time 
Spain  owned  Florida. 
But  in  the  war  she 
had  taken  sides  with 
France,  and  Great 
Britain  had  captured 
Havana.  To  get 
back  Havana,  Spain 
now  gave  Great  Brit- 
ain Florida  in  ex- 
change. But  France 
repaid  Spain  for  this 
loss    by   giving    her 


Oldest  house  in  St.  Augustine 


New  Orleans  and  the  country  round  about,  and  all  the  country 
west  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  So  North 
America  was  then  divided  between  Spain  and  Great  Britain, 
with  the  Mississippi  as  the  boundary,  down  to  New  Orleans. 

And  now  again  peace  between  France  and  Great  Britain  was  Trouble  with 
not  followed  by  peace  for  all  the  colonies.  In  the  region  given 
up  to  Great  Britain  between  the  Appalachian  Mountains  and 
the  Mississippi,  dwelt  many  tribes  of  Indians,  old  friends  of  the 
French  and  bitter  haters  of  the  English.  The  moment  these 
Indians  heard  that  the  French  must  leave  their  country,  and  the 
English  were  coming  in,  they  were  easily  persuaded  to  join  in 
a  war  to  drive  the  English  back. 

The  leader  in  the  new  border  war  was  Pontiac,  one  of  the  Pontiac's 
greatest  Indians  known  to  history,  and  nobody  saw  more  clearly 
than  he  did  the  difference  between  the  two  white  races  in  the 
way  they  behaved  in  the  Indian  country.  The  French  built 
rude  forts,  made  friends  with  the  Indians,  married  Indian 
women,  and  supplied  the  tribes  with  whatever  was  wanted  in 
return  for  furs.     The  English  built  villages,  killed  the  game, 


woodsmen 


108         SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE  IN  AMERICA? 

cut  down  the  forests,  made  roads,  planted  farms,  and  looked  on 
the  Indian  as  a  wild  beast.  To  Pontiac  the  coming  of  the 
English  meant  the  ruin  of  his  race,  and  with  wonderful  skill 
he  quickly  roused  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest,  took  the  warpath, 
and  swept  the  country  from  Lake  Michigan  to  Pennsylvania. 
The  back-  Along  the  frontier  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland, 
and  Virginia,  were  then  scattered  a  hardy  class 
of  men  who  were  by  turn  farmers,  hunters, 
and  fighters,  as  occasion  required.  Rough, 
brave,  daring  ;  caring  nothing  for  the  refine- 
ments of  city  life  ;  dressed  in  moccasins, 
leggings,  and  hunting  shirt  of  deerskin, 
they  made  their  clearings,  built  their  log 
huts,  and,  rifle  in  hand,  ranged  the  forest 
at  will.  Here  and  there  at  long  intervals 
small  stockaded  forts,  with  a  few  cabins 
and  houses,  or  thick-walled  buildings  like 
the  garrison  houses  of  New  England,  had 
been  built,  to  which,  in  times  of  danger, 
the  settlers  came  for  refuge  ;  but  along 
the  Pennsylvania  frontier  even  these  rude 
defenses  were  few.  A  backwoodsman 

Now  that  the  Erench  had  been  driven  from  America,  these 
backwoodsmen  supposed  that  a  long  period  of  peace  was  be- 
fore them,  and  had  gone  back  to  their  farms  and  clearings, 
had  planted  their  crops,  and  were  cutting  their  hay,  when 
Indian  war  parties  burst  upon  them  from  every  valley.  It 
was  the  old  story  of  surprise,  treachery,  massacre,  burning, 
and  torture. 

The  general  commanding  the  British  forces  in  the  colonies, 
with  all  the  haste  he  could  make,  sent  relief  expeditions  to 
Port  Niagara,  to  Detroit,  and  to  Fort  Pitt.     That  sent  to  Fort 


SHALL  FRANCE  OR  ENGLAND  RULE   IN  AMERICA?         109 


Battle  of 
Bushy  Run 


Pitt  was  in  the  charge  of  Colonel  Henry  Bouquet,  a  bold  and 
daring  soldier. 

Hearing  of  the  coming  army,  the  Indians  who  were  attack- 
ing Fort  Pitt  instantly  slipped  away,  and,  hurrying  eastward 
some  twenty  miles  to  Bushy  Run,  hid  in  the  bushes  to  await 
the  troops,  who  came  upon  them  one  scorching  afternoon  in 
August,  1763.  The  battle  which  followed  was  most  desper- 
ate ;  but  the  Indians  were  put  to  flight,  and  the  army  went 
slowly  on  to  Fort  Pitt. 

This  cleared  the  frontier  of  Pennsylvania.     Another  army  The  Indians 
sent   the    following  year   along   the   lake   frontier   to  Detroit 
quieted   the  Indians  in  that  region.     But  to  sweep  back  the 
red  men,  recover  the  sites  of  the  burned       ^^v       forts,  and 
rebuild    and    garrison    the    block-  houses 

was  not  enough.  The  strong 
hold  of  the  enemy  must  be 
invaded.  Bouquet  accord- 
ingly took  up  the  task,  and 
in  the  autumn  of  1764  led 
an  army  from  Fort  Pitt  into 
what  is  now  Ohio,  forced 
the  Indians  to  submit,  made 
them  give  up  two  hundred 

prisoners,   and  went   back  -*•'- ""  •   „ 

in  triumph  to  Fort  Pitt.  Redoubt  at  Fort  Pitt,  still  standing 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  King  of   England   took   away  the  charters  of  Massachusetts  and 

Rhode  Island ;  and  for  a  short  time  the  whole  country  from  New  Jersey 
to  Maine  was  placed  under  one  royal  governor —  Andros. 

2.  When  William  and  Mary  came  to  the  English  throne,  war  broke  out  be- 

tween the  French  and  the  English  colonies,  and  was  known  as  King 
William's  War. 


110        COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 


3.  This  was  soon  followed  by 
Queen  Anne's  War,  dur- 
ing which  the  English 
colonists  captured  Nova 
Scotia  from  the  French. 

4.  During  the  peace  which  fol- 
lowed, France  made  ready 
to  shut  the  British  out  of 
the  Mississippi  valley,  and 
was  building  a  chain  of 
forts  from  New  Orleans 
to  Montreal,  when  King 
George's  War  opened. 

5.  After  peace  France  built  a 
chain  of  forts  in  the  Alle- 
gheny valley  from  Lake 
Erie  to  the  Ohio  River. 

6.  This  alarmed  the  British 
and  brought  on  the  French 

and  Indian  War,  in  which 
the  French  were  forced  to  abandon  North  America,  giving  to  the 
British  Canada  and  the  part  of  Louisiana  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

7.  Spain  was  forced  to  give  Florida  to  Great  Britain,  but  received  from 

France  the  Mississippi  valley  west  of  the  river,  with  New  Orleans. 

8.  The  departure  of  the  French  from  the  Mississippi  valley  and  the  Great 

Lakes  was  followed  by  an  Indian  uprising  led  by  Pontiac. 


Old  tower,  Fort  Marion,  Florida 


o>*Zc 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE  COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 

New  The  greater  part    of    the   country   France  surrendered  to 

provinces  Q-rea£  Britain  in  1763  was  a  wilderness  in  which  very  few 
white  men  lived.  But  some  parts  of  the  new  British  posses- 
sions were  inhabited  by  white  men,  and  the  first  thing  Great 


COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY    111 

Britain  did  was  to  make,  out  of  these,  the  three  provinces  of 
Quebec,  East  Florida,  and  West  Florida.  She  next  drew  a  line 
around  the  sources  of  the  rivers  which  flow  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  New  England  to 
Florida,  and  forbade  the  Americans  to  settle 
west  of  that  line.  The  country  west  of  the  The  Indian 
line  was  set  apart  for  the  Indians.  country 

Great  Britain  did  these  things  in  order  that 

her  colonies  and  provinces  might  be  more  easily 

governed.      She  also  wanted  the  people  to  stay 

,    near  the   seaboard   and  not  wander  into   the 

Stamp  used  in  1765 

region  beyond  the  mountains.  If  hemmed  in 
near  the  coast,  it  was  thought,  the  colonies  would  in  time 
become  thickly  settled  and  would  buy  great  quantities  of 
British  manufactures. 

But  the  colonies  and  provinces  must  not  merely  be  governed,  Plans  for 
they  must  also  be  defended.      The  Indians  must  be  kept  in  anarmy 
order,  and  everything  must  be  in  a  state  of  defense  in  case 
France  and  Spain  tried  to  get  back  their  lost  territory.     Great 
Britain  proposed,  therefore,  to  send  over  an  army  of  regular 
soldiers  to  be  scattered  over  the  country.     This  would 
cost  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  King  George  III.  and     SSjgJ^ 


Parliament  decided  that  part  of  the  money  should  be     V^A 
raised  in  two  ways  :  by  forcing  the  colonists  to  pay     f  w  ft  C  \ 
taxes  on  all  the  molasses,  sugar,  and  coffee  they  im-    1  1  Cl}ny| 
ported  ;  and  by  requiring  them  to  print  all  newspa-     Vj^m£CJ/ 
pers  and  write  all  legal  documents  on  paper  made  in  — - 

England  and  stamped  and  sold  by  government  offi- 
cials.     The  law  requiring  this  was  the  Stamp  Act.  ^iJfc* 

The  colonies  then  had  agents  in  London,  and  one 
of  them  was  Benjamin  Franklin.     He  was  born  at  Boston  nearly 
sixty  years  before  this  time,  and  was  the  son  of  a  candle  maker. 


112        COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 


Benjamin  When  he  was  ten  years  old  his  school  days  were  over,  and  for  a 
Franklin    w]^e  ]ie  CU£  wicks,  molded  candles,  tended  shop,  ran  on  errands, 
and  talked  of  going  to  sea.     But  the  father  opposed  this,  and 
bound  Benjamin  as  apprentice  to  an  elder  brother,  under  whom 
he  learned  ni ,—      to  set  type  and  did  his  share  in  print- 

ing the  second  newspaper  in  America. 
When  seventeen  he  left  his  brother, 
and  made  his  way  to  New  York, 
in  search  of  work.  Finding  none, 
he  crossed  to  the  Jersey  shore  and 
walked  to  the  Delaware  River, 
where  he  boarded  a  boat  and 
rowed  to  Philadelphia.  There  in 
time  he  opened  a  printing  house 
of  his  own,  published  one  of  the 
best  newspapers  in  all  the  colonies, 
issued  every  year  a  very  famous 

Printing  press  of  Franklin's  time         ^^  book  knQwn  all  over  the  colo. 

nies  as  Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  and  took  an  active  part  in 
everything  that  benefited  his  fellow-citizens.  He  founded  a 
library,  and  an  academy  which  has  since  grown  to  be  a  great 
university.  He  proved  that  lightning  in  the  clouds  and  the 
electricity  by  which  we  ring  bells,  are  one  and  the  same  ;  and 
invented  the  lightning  rod  and  a  stove  still  known  by  his 
name.  The  King  appointed  him  deputy  postmaster  for  the 
northern  colonies  ;  his  fellow-citizens  elected  him  to  the  legis- 
lature, and  when  somebody  was  needed  to  plead  the  cause  of 
Pennsylvania  in  London,  the  legislature  sent  Franklin  to  do  it. 
Agent  for  In  company  with  agents  from  other  colonies  Franklin  now 

Pennsylvania  appeareci  before  the  minister  and  did  all  he  could  to  prevent 
the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  but  in  vain.  "  Depend  upon  it, 
my  good  neighbor,"  he  wrote  home,  "  I  took  every  step  in  my 


COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY    113 


power  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act. 


But   Accepts  the 


the  tide  was  too  strong  against  us. 


We  might  as  well 


Stamp  Act 


That  we  could  not  do.     But 


have  hindered  the  sun's  setting, 
since  'tis  down,  my  friend, 
and  it  may  be  long  be- 
fore it  rises  again,  let  us 
make  as  good  a  night  of 
it  as  we  can.  We  may 
still  light  candles." 

But  the  people  were 
not  willing  to  accept  dark- 
ness and  "  light  candles  " 
as  Franklin  said.  When 
the  news  came  that  the 
Stamp  Act  had  passed 
Parliament,  and  would  be 
a  law  in  the  colonies  on 
the  first  day  of  November, 
17C>5,  there  was  great  ex- 
citement everywhere.  In 
Virginia  a  famous  scene 
occurred.  The  legisla- 
ture was  debating  a  set 
of  resolutions  declaring 
the  stamp  tax  unjust.  One  of  the  speakers  was  Patrick  Henry,  Patrick 
and  a  greater  orator  did  not  then  live  in  the  thirteen  colonies.  Henry 
Henry  was  born  in  Virginia  a  few  years  after  Washington, 
grew  up  on  one  of  the  smaller  plantations,  and  seems  never 
to  have  given  the  slightest  sign  of  being  more  than  a  very 
ordinary  boy.  He  hated  study  and  loved  the  woods  and 
streams,  and  when  he  was  ten  had  made  so  little  progress  at 
school  that  his  father  became  his  teacher  till  he  was  fifteen, 


Benjamin  Franklin 


Ill  COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 

when  lie  was  apprenticed  to  a  storekeeper,  and  then  started 
with  his  brother  in  a  store  of  his  own.  But  he  was  quite 
unfit  for  business.  Instead  of  making  money  he  lost  it,  and 
was  next  placed  on  a  small  farm.  He  proved  to  be  a  poor 
farmer,  and  went  back  to  storekeeping  and  once  more  failed  to 
succeed.  Those  who  knew  him  might  now  have  thought  him 
good  for  nothing.  But  like  many  another  man  great  in  our 
history,  he  had  not  yet  found  what  he  could  do. 

In  desperation  Henry  now  turned  to  law,  and  after  reading 
a  few  legal  books  went  before  the  lawyers  to  be  examined  for 
permission  to  practice  law,  and  with  great  difficulty  got  it. 
But  now  at  last  he  had  found  his  true  work.  Business  came 
to  him,  and  when  one  day  a  case  was  brought  to  him  because 
no  other  lawyer  would  argue  it,  he  took  it,  and  made  so  elo- 
quent a  speech  that  all  who  heard  him  knew  that  a  great  orator 
had  arisen  among  them, 
what  Such  was  the  fame  of  this  case  that  Henry  was  elected  to 

Virginia  did  ^q  Virginia  legislature  just  at  the   time   of  the   Stamp  Act 
troubles.     The  question  before  it  was,   Shall  the 
law  be  obeyed  ?    The  wealthy 
and  important  men  thought 
they  would    say  yes,    and 
were      much      displeased 
when  Henry  said  no.    His 
speech    was     not   written 
down,   so  we   know  little  of 
it,  but  those  who  were  present 
Old  Capitol  of  Virginia  describe  it  as  wonderful,  and  have 

{Where  Patrick  Henry  made  his       preserve(i  f  or  us  one  sentence.       Recall- 

famous  speech)  * 

ing  to  his  hearers  the  fate  of  tyranni- 
cal rulers  who  had  been  killed  in  old  times,  he  said,  "  Csesar  had 
his  Brutus ;   Charles  the  First  his  Cromwell ;  and  George  the 


COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY        115 

Third  "  —  "  Treason  !  treason  !  treason  !  "  shouted  the  mem- 
bers ;  —  uand  George  the  Third,"  continued  Henry,  "may  profit 
by  their  example.     If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 

The  legislature  finally  passed  a  resolution  that  the  Virgin  i- 
ansfwere  not  bound  to  obey  the  law. 

In  Massachusetts  the  people  were  so  much  in  earnest  that  stamp  Act 
the  legislature  asked  the  colonies  to  send  delegates  to  a  con-  Congress 
gress  at  New  York.     This  body  of  men  (known  as  the  Stamp 
Act  Congress)  adopted,  signed,  and  issued  a   Declaration   of 
Rights  and  Grievances,  which  stated  :  — 

1.  That  the  Americans  were  subjects  of  the  British  crown. 

2.  That  it  was  the  natural  right  of  a  British  subject  to  pay  no 

taxes  unless  he  had  a  voice  in  laying  them. 

3.  That  the  Americans  were  not  represented  in  Parliament. 

4.  That  Parliament,  therefore,  could  not  tax  them,  and  that 

an  attempt  to  do  so  was  an  attack  on  the  rights  of  Eng-" 
lishmen  and  the  liberty  of  self-government. 

Meanwhile  certain  men  had  been  appointed  in  the  colonies  The  stamp 
to  sell^the  stamped  paper.  The  people  next  called  on  these  Actresisted 
men  to  refuse  to  sell  the  paper,  and,  if  they  would  not,  used 
force  to  make  them  do  so.  The  merchants  in  the  great  cities 
next  signed  an  agreement  not  to  import  any  goods  from  Great 
Britain,  and  the  people  pledged  themselves  not  to  buy  any 
British  goods  for  some  months  to  come. 

This  hurt  the  British  manufacturers,  and  they  raised  such 
a  clamor  that  Parliament  repealed  the  stamp  tax,  that  is, 
stopped  it.  When  the  colonists  heard  of  this,  they  were 
greatly  pleased.  All  trouble,  they  thought,  was  now  over. 
But  they  were  much  mistaken,  for  the  very  next  year  Parlia- 
ment laid  taxes  on  glass,  paint,  oils,  and  tea  imported  into  New  taxes 
the  colonies. 


11(3         COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 


Tea  at  Boston 


Thus  the  right  to  tax  the  colonies  was  once  more  claimed, 
and  the  people  again  made  ready  to  resist.  But  how  should 
they  resist  ?  By  refusing  to  buy  British  goods.  Such  action 
had  led  to  the  repeal  of  trie  stamp  tax.  Like  action  would 
surely  lead  to  the  repeal  of  the  new  taxes.  The  old  agree- 
ment not  to  import  and  not  to  use  British  goods  was  there- 
fore renewed  all  over  the  colonies.  Parliament  stood  out  for 
three  years;  but  then  it  took  off  all  the  taxes  except  that  on  tea. 
At  that  time  a  company,  called  the  East 
India  Company,  had  the  sole  right  to  bring  tea 
to  Great  Britain.'  But  it  could  not  send  any 
to  America.  It  must  sell  the  tea  and  let  others 
take  it  to  the  colonies.  But  the  Americans 
had  stopped  buying  tea  from  the  British  mer- 
chants, who  for  this  reason  bought  less  tea  from 
the  East  India  Company,  and  an  immense  quan- 
tity was  lying  in  its  warehouses. 

Parliament,  in  order  to  help  the  company, 
now  gave  it  leave  to  send  tea  to  America.  The  company  accord- 
ingly sent  over  shiploads  of  tea  to  Boston,  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, and  Charleston.  But  it  was  required  to  pay  a  duty  of 
three  pence  a  pound  ;  the  tea,  therefore,  was  taxed,  and  the 
Americans  would  have  none  of  it;  "If  Parliament  may  tax 
one  article,  it  may  tax  all,"  said  they. 

When  the  first  tea  ship  arrived  at  Boston,  she  was  made  fast 
to  a  dock  and  guarded  by  the  people,  who  insisted  that  her 
captain  should  take  her  back  to  London.  This  he  was  quite 
ready  to  do  ;  but  the  officers  of  the  King  would  not  give  her  a 
paper  called  a  "  clearance,"  and  without  a  clearance  the  ship 
would  not  be  permitted  to  pass  the  fort  and  the  men-of-war  in 
the  harbor.  Under  the  lead  of  Samuel  Adams  the  people  then 
asked  the  governor  to  order  the  officers  to  let  the  ship  go. 


Flag  of  the  East 
India  Company 


COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 


11' 


Samuel  Adams  was  a  native  of  Boston,  was  about  fifty  years 
old  at  this  time,  and  had  long  been  prominent  in  public  affairs. 
For  twenty  years  past  he  had  been  serving  his  native  town  in 
all  manner  of  ways  — as  a  tax  collector,  as  a  fire  warden,  as 
moderator  of  the  town  meeting,  as  one  of  a  committee  to  visit 


Samuel 
Adams 


schools,  and  see  that  chimneys  were  prop- 
and  that  due  care  was  taken  to  prevent 
small  pox,  and  as  member  of  the  legislature 
Services  like  these  made  him  well  known, 
which  he  discharged  his  duties  made  people 
and  when  the  stormy  times  of  ^Ke  Revolu- 
fellow-townsmen  naturally  turaie>l  to  him 
sought  his  counsel,  and  listinedVto  his 
wrote  articles  for  the  newspaper  ex 
acts  and  aims  of  Great  Britain,  defend- 
ple,  and  pointing  out  the  kind  of  /resist- 
should  make  ;  and  now  when  resisfe^ioe 
made,  it  was  Samuel  Adams  th 
The  governor,  however,  refu 
customs  officers  to  let  the  ship  go} 
while  the  people  were  meeting  and 
discussing  what  next  to  do,  two 
more  tea  ships  arrived.  This  made 
the  people  more  excited  than  be- 
fore, and  at  a  great  meeting  at 
the  Old  South  Meetinghouse  one 
morning  in  December,  1773,  it 
was  resolved  that  the  ships  must 
go  out  of  Boston  harbor  that  very 
afternoon.  A  committee  was  then  sent  to  the  customhouse  to 
demand  a  clearance,  and  when  the  officers  again  refused,  the  owner 
of  one  of  the  ships  was  sent  to  ask  a  pass  from  the  governor. 


erly    inspected, 

the    spread    of 

of  the  colony. 

The     way     in 

trust   in  him, 

tion  came,  his 

a^  to  a  leader, 

advice.       He 

plaining    the 

ing  the  peo- 

ance      they 

was    to    be 

the  way. 

order     the 


Old  South  Meetinghouse 


MOM.    PR.   H. 


118        COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY 


•„:  Kill  \XI-Jiw;.:  ■!■ :  ■:.  i  «•-  r.uu  jUvaa  <Ms  -JSC3  S&eift  *?j& 
V!)«?JVAV  SSt,'£f5  .-A'.:^-'rcrV-Mii.V.O.tir(Jj5-j'!ilKaMB» 

■Jim';  r£  j/jsrii-.ti':  •:;■■  Kjisiafi  rasas 


The  "Tea  Party  Tablet,"  on  Long 
1    Wharf,  Boston 


Boston  Night  had  fallen  and  the  candles  had  been  lighted  when  this 

Tea  i'arty  m,m  returned,  to  find  the  people  still  waiting  before  the  build- 
ing.    They  were  not  surprised  to  hear  that  the  governor  refused 

. „ _._     to  give  a  pass  to  take  the 

ships  out  of  the  harbor  un- 
less   a    clearance    was    first 
obtained.    As  nothing  more 
-    could    now    be     done,    the 
meeting  broke  up,  and  the 
people    were    returning    to 
their    homes,   when    a    band 
of  men  dressed  like  Indians 
hurried   through  the   streets 
of    the    city    to    the    wharf 
where   the   three    ships    lay, 
leaped  on  board,  and  with  hatchets  smashed  in  the  side  of  every 
box  and  emptied  the  tea  into  the  water. 

At  New  York,  the  tea  ships  were  stopped  and  not  allowed  to 
come  up  the  harbor.  At  Charleston,  the  tea  was  stored  for 
three  years  and  then  sold  by  the  state  of  South  Carolina.  At 
Philadelphia,  the  people  met  at  the  statehouse  and  passed  reso- 
lutions calling  on  the  merchants  to  whom  the  East  India  Com- 
pany had  sent  tea  not  to  receive  it.  The  river  pilots  were  next 
asked  not  to  pilot  the  tea  ships  up  the  Delaware  River.  This 
done,  the  people  waited  quietly  for  the  arrival  of  the  ships. 

At  last,  on  the  evening  of  Christmas  Day,  1773,  a  horseman 
rode  into  town  with  the  news  that  a  ship  with  tea  on  board  was 
really  coming  up  the  river.  The  next  day  was  Sunday,  but  the 
people  were  so  excited  that  a  party  of  citizens  rode  down  the 
river  bank  to  warn  the  captain  not  to  come  near  the  city.  On 
Monday  all  business  was  stopped,  the  stores  were  shut,  and  a 
great  meeting  was  held  at  the  statehouse  yard.     Then  it  was 


Tea  at 
other  cities 


COLONIES  QUARREL  WITH  THE  MOTHER  COUNTRY    119 


resolved  that  the  tea  should  not  be  landed.  The  captain  was 
ordered  to  go  back  to  London,  and  in  twenty-four  hours  was  on 
his  way  to  sea. 

For  their  acts   of  resistance,  Parliament   now  resolved   to  The  Boston 
punish  the  colonies,  and  began  with  Massachusetts.     The  port  PortBl11 
of  Boston  was  closed  —  that  is,  no  ship  was  to  be         allowed  to 


go   into    or   come   out    of   Boston    harbor  —  till 
asked  pardon  and  paid  for  the  tea  that  was  de- 

But  the  colonists  were  not  frightened 
The  whole  country  felt  sorry  for  the 
people  of  Boston.     Their  cause  be 
came    the    country's    cause,   and 
soon  men  from  twelve  of  the     \v 
colonies    met    in    Carpenter's 
Hall  at  Philadelphia  to   con- 
sider  what    should    be    done. 
This     body,    known     as     the 
First    Continental     Congress, 
sent  a  petition  to  the  King, 
asking  him  to  put  an  end  to 
the  grievances  of  the  colonies. 
It    then    called    for    a    second 
Continental  Congress  to  meet  at 
Philadelphia  in  May,  1775. 


f  the  people 
stroyed. 


Carpenter's  Hall,  Philadelphia 


SUMMARY 


1.  In  order  to  defend  the  colonies  Great  Britain  proposed  to  send  over  an 

army  and  have  the  colonists  help  to  pay  the  cost. 

2.  Money  was  to  be  raised  by  new  duties  and  by  a  stamp  tax  on  newspapers 

and  legal  papers. 

3.  As  the  colonists  had  no  representatives  in  Parliament,  they  refused  to 

pay  the  stamp  duties,  and  agreed  not  to  buy  British  manufactured 
goods.     This  forced  Parliament  to  repeal  the  stamp  tax. 


120 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


4.  But  Parliament  soon  laid  new  taxes  on  glass,  paint,  oils,  and  tea.     Again 

the  colonists  refused  to  buy  British  goods,  and  soon  all  the  taxes  were 
repealed  except  that  on  tea. 

5.  As  the  people  would  not  import  tea,  it  was  sent  over.     At  some  places 

the  ships  were  forced   to   sail  away.     At  Boston  men  disguised   as 
Indians  threw  the  tea  into  the  water. 

6.  For  this,  Parliament  punished  Boston.      But  the  colonies  sided  with 

Boston,  and  the  First  Continental  Congress  met  at  Philadelphia  in 
1774. 

CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   LONG  FIGHT   FOR  INDEPENDENCE 


Country  around  Boston 


During  the  seven 
months'  interval  be- 
tween the  First  and 
the  Second  Continen- 
tal Congress,  the  colo- 
nies and  the  mother 
country  came  to  blows. 

The  people  of 
Massachusetts,  fear- 
ing that  trouble  Avould 
come,  had  begun  to 
collect  and  hide  pow- 


Gage  in 
Massachusetts 


der,  shot,  guns,  and  cannon.  General  Gage,  who  commanded 
the  British  troops  in  Boston,  and  had  been  made  governor  of 
Massachusetts  by  the  King,  was  well  aware  of  this,  and  several 
times  tried  to  seize  the  supplies  and  destroy  them.  But  the 
patriots  were  too  quick  for  him.  Thus,  one  day  in  February, 
1775,  Gage  sent  a  band  of  soldiers  from  Boston  to  Salem  with 
orders  to  seize   some   cannon.      Not   finding   any,  the   troops 


THE   LONG  FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


121 


started  for  a  town  near  by ;  but  while  marching  along,  they 
came  to  a  bridge  guarded  by  Americans  under  Colonel  Picker- 
ing. The  British  attempted  to  pass.  Colonel  Pickering  said 
the  bridge  was  private  property  and  refused  to  let  them  go  on. 
A  fight  seemed  at  hand,  when  a  minister  who  was  present 
reminded  the  people  that  the  day  was  Sunday,  and  the  British 
were  allowed  to  proceed.     They  found  no  cannon. 

Some  time  after  this,  officers  were  sent  to  find  where  the 
patriots  did  hide  their  cannon.  They  reported  that  guns, 
cannon,  and  powder  had  been  collected  at  Concord,  a  town 
about  twenty  miles  from  Boston.  Gage,  therefore,  ordered 
some  British  soldiers  to  go  and  destroy  these  stores,  and 
on  the  evening  of  April  18,  1775,  they  set  off  as  quietly 
as  possible.  But  the  Boston  patriots  had  suspected  that 
soldiers  would  be  sent,  and  had  agreed  on  a  signal  to  be 
used  when  needed  to  notify  the  people  in  the  country.  If 
the  British  did  go,  lights  were  to  be  shown  from  the  tower 
of  the  Old  North  Church  :  one  lantern  if  they  went  by 
land  ;  two  lanterns  if  they  went  by  water. 

The  British  went  by  water.     Two  lights  were  there- 
fore hung  out  on  the  church  steeple,  and  riders  were 
sent  galloping  off  in  the  darkness  to  arouse  the  country. 
It  was  believed  that  the  British  not  only  intended  to 
destroy  the  stores,  but  were  going  to  capture  two  active 
patriots,  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock,  who  were 
then  at  Lexington.      Toward  Lexington,  therefore, 
one  of  the  riders,  Paul  Revere,  made  all  the  haste 
he  could.      Galloping  along  from  town  to  town, 
he  would  stop  at  the  door  of  some  patriot  farmer, 
wake  him  up  with  the  cry  "  The  regulars  are 
out,"  and  leaving  him  to  arouse  his  neighbors, 
would  ride  on.  Old  North  Church 


The  signal 


122 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Lexington  Thus  it  came  about  that  when  the  regulars  reached  Lexing- 
ton, about  dawn  on  the  never-to-be-forgotten  morning  of  April 
19,  1775,  they  found  a  little  company  of  patriots  drawn  up  and 


Fainting  by  A.  II-   /iickutll 


Battle  of  Lexington 


Concord 


ready  for  them  on  the  village  green.  "  Disperse,  ye  villains ; 
ye  rebels,  disperse,"  said  the  commander  of  the  King's  troops. 

Instead  of  dispersing,  one  of  the  patriots  pulled  the  trigger 
of  his  musket.  It  failed  to  go  off.  The  next  moment  the 
British  fired,  and  sixteen  men  fell,  killed  and  wounded.  The 
Americans  now  fired,  and  one  British  soldier  was  killed.  But, 
seeing  they  were  greatly  outnumbered,  the  Americans  made 
no  more  resistance,  and  the  British  marched  on  to  Concord. 
But  there  Paul  Revere  had  aroused  the  people,  who  were  gather- 
ing fast  on  the  hillsides. 

Leaving  a  guard  at  the  bridge  across  the  Concord  River,  the 
British  began  to  destroy  the  cannon  and  powder  collected  by 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


123 


retreat 


the  patriots.  While  they  were  doing  this,  firing  was  heard  at 
the  bridge.  The  Americans  had  attacked  the  guard.  Hurry- 
ing up  to  aid  their  companions,  the  British  saw  such  a  host 
of  angry  and  determined  men  that  they  began  to  retreat  toward 
Lexington. 

Meanwhile,  news  of  the  fight  at  Lexington  at  sunrise  had  The  British 
spread  like  wildfire.     The  whole  country  was  in  arms.     The 
people  were  in  waiting  along  the  road  the  British  must  take, 
and  they  poured  a  deadly  fire  on  the  retreating  enemy. 

The  Americans  were  stationed  in  buildings  near  the  road, 
and  behind  trees  and  stone  fences,  so  that  the  British  could  not 
shoot  them.     Indeed,  the  British  soon  began  to  run,  and  they 
might  all  have  been  killed  or  captured,  had  not  a  body  of  fresh 
troops  met  the  regulars  at  Lexing- 
ton.    With  the  help  of   these  the 
British     reached     Charlestown     at 
sundown.     But  the  patriots  came 
in  from  every  side,  so  that  in  a 
few  days  great   crowds   of  them 
were     gathered     about     Boston,    -> 
where  they  shut  in  Gage  and  the 
British  army. 

When  the  Second  Continental 
Congress  met  at  Philadelphia  in 
May,  1775,  Massachusetts  asked 
it  to  adopt  the  men  gathered 
about  Boston,  as  a  Continental  Army. 


Concord  Bridge  and  Monument 


There  were  New  Hamp-  The 
slanders,  and  men  from 
Each  band  was  a  sort  of  little  army  with  its  own 


shire  men,  Massachusetts  men,  Rhode  Islanders,  and  men  from  c°ntinental 

__  m  Army- 

Connecticut. 


commander. 

Congress,  seeing  that  the  war  had  really  opened,  did  as  it 
was  asked  and  formed  these  bands  into  a  Continental  Army; 


124 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   EOK   INDEPENDENCE 


General 
Washington 


Flintlock  mus- 
ket and  car- 
tridge box 


"  Battle  of 
Bunker  Hill ' 


and  appointed  George  Washington  as  commander  in  chief. 
He  started  at  once  for  Boston.      But  he  had  not  ridden  far 
from   Philadelphia  when  he  heard  that  a  great  battle  had 
been  fought  near  Bunker  Hill. 

A    short    distance    north    of    Boston,    and    just    behind 
Charlestown,  were  two  small  hills.     The  nearer  of  the  two 
to  the  American  army  was  Bunker  Hill.       Just  beyond  it 
and  nearer  to  Boston  was   Breeds   Hill.      The  Americans, 
hearing  that  the  British  intended  to  fortify  the  hills,  sent 
a  body  of   soldiers,  under  Colonel  Prescott,  one   night   in 
June,  to  take  possession  of  Bunker  Hill.      But  Prescott 
went   on  to   Breeds  Hill,  and  quickly  built  a  large  earth- 
work.    At  daylight  the  British  fired  on  it  from  their  ships, 
but  the  Americans  worked  on,  making  a  long  trench  and 
bank  to  protect  themselves  in  the  coming  fight. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  British,  having 
come  over  from  Boston,  formed  in  line  at  the  foot  of 
Breeds  Hill  and  began  to  march  up.  The  Americans 
had  very  little  powder.  Prescott  and  General  Israel 
Putnam,  who  were  in  command,  urged  them  not  to 
waste  any.  "  Save  your  powder,"  was  the  order. 
"  Men,"  said  Putnam,  "  you  are  all  marksmen.  Don't  one  of 
you  fire  till  you  see  the  whites  of  their  eyes."     On  came  the 


forms,  their  faces, 
ute.    They  were 


British,  nearer  and  nearer.    Their  uni- 
grew  plainer  and  plainer  every  min- 
within  three  hundred  feet,  two  hun- 
dred feet,  one  hundred  feet,  before  the 
order  "  Fire  !  "  rang  out, 

Then  the  Americans  fired,  killing 
so  many  British  that  the  rest  hurried  Putnam's  plow 

down  the  hill  in  disorder.     But  the  British  officers  rallied  their 
men,  and  led  them  back  up  the  hill.     They  were  again  thrown 


THE    LONG   FIGHT   FOR    INDEPENDENCE 


125 


into  disorder  by 
obliged  to  re- 
a    third    time 
A  third  time 
powder  of  the 
bayonets,  they 
muskets    and 
could  end  in 
forced  to  re- 
Although 
Hill,  as  this 


Bunker  Hill  Monument 


the  steady  fire  of  the  Americans,  and 
tire.  Their  courage  was  splendid,  and 
their  officers  led  them  to  the  attack, 
the  Americans  met  them.  But  now  the 
Americans  was  gone,  and,  having  no 
fought  desperately  with  the  butt  ends  of 
with  stones.  Such  an  unequal  tight 
but  one  way.  The  Americans  were 
treat. 

the  British  won  the  battle  of  Bunker  Result  of  the 

fight  is  called,  their  loss  was  dreadful. 

"  Two  more  such  victories,  and  Great 

Britain  will  have  no  army  left 

in    America,"    said   a   great 

French    statesman.        "  Did 

the  militia  fight  ?  "  exclaimed 

Washington,    when    on    his 

way  to  Boston  he  heard  of 


battle 


HPsSP3 


the   battle    of   Bunker    Hill.      When   assured 
fought  splendidly,  he  said,  "Then  the 
liberties    of    the     country    are    safe." 
And    this    was     the    great     lesson     of 
Bunker  Hill  :  that  the  American  farmers 
would  fight  for  their  rights  and  would 
fight    against  the  regular  troops  of 
Great  Britain. 

During  the  next  eight  months  the 
Continental  Army,  with  Washington 
in  command,  surrounded  Boston.  It 
took  a  long  time  to  drill  the  men  and 
collect  cannon  and  powder.  But  at 
last  Washington  was    ready  to   drive 


L  that  they 


Washington  Elm  at  Cambridge 

{Where  Washington  toot  command  of 
the  army) 


126 


THE  LONG  FIGHT  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 


new  govern 
ments 


British  leave  the  British  out  of  the  town,  and  was  just  about  to  do  it,  when, 
under  General  Howe,  they  boarded  their  ships  and  sailed  away, 
colonies  form         All  authority  of  the  King  and  Parliament  was  now  ended  in 
the  colonies.     The  royal  governors  had  fled,  or  had  been  put 
into    prison.      The   patriots  in  every   colony,  hoping  that  the 
^i^'fe^^T sg    ^  ~—  -   King  might  yield,  had  established  tem- 
'•'rfy^Q^O.iil^!inl?KT:  porary     governments,     which     they 

called    Committees    of    Safety,   1  ro- 

fF,|;\   vincial     Congresses,     or     Provincial 

•    —    Assemblies.      But   now  it  was  very 

PSU:   certain  that  unless  the   colonies  were 

\ty     beaten   in   the  war   they  never   again 

would  be  under  the  British  Crown. 

The  Continental  Congress,  there- 
fore, advised  the  colonies  to  set  up 
permanent  governments.  One  by  one 
they  did  so,  and  thus  turned  them- 
selves from  British  colonies  into 
American  states.  Up  to  this  time 
there  had  been  thirteen  colonies ; 
now  there  were  thirteen  states. 
But  these  state  governments 
independence  were  to  be  made  without  consent  of  the  King.  What  did  that 
mean  ?  It  meant  that  the  states  were  to  be  independent  of  the 
King.  Then  why  not  say  so  ?  Why  not  tell  it  to  the  whole 
world  ?  They  decided  to  do  so,  and  on  July  2,  1776,  Congress 
passed  this  resolution,  moved  by  R.  H.  Lee  of  Virginia  :  — 

"Resolved,  That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States,  that  they  are  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  that  all  political 
connection  between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain  is, 
and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved." 


Where  the  Declaration  was  signed 

{Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia) 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE  127 

This  settled  the  matter.  The  colonies  were  now  independ-  Declaration  of 
ent.  The  next  step  was  to  tell  or  declare  that  fact  to  the  ^dependence 
world,  and  so  a  declaration  of  independence,  which  had  already 
been  drawn  up,  was  next  voted  on.  "  When,  in  the  course  of 
human  events,"  sa}rs  the  Declaration,  "it  becomes  necessary 
for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  con- 
nected them  with  another  ...  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions 
of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes."  It 
was  this  decent  respect  which  had  led  Congress  to  select 
Thomas  Jefferson,  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Adams,  Roger 
Sherman,  and  Robert  Livingston  to  prepare  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  telling  the  world  why  the  United  States  were 
independent  of  Great  Britain. 

Jefferson  wrote  the  Declaration,  and   on  the   4th  of  July, 
1776,  Congress  adopted  it,  and  ordered  copies 
sent  to  the  states. 

To   declare  independence  was 
one  thing  ;  to  force  Great  Britain  to 
acknowledge  it  was  another  thing,  and 
more  than  five  years  passed  before  the  last    . .      , .  ,ner7sonf.   es         .„   x 

J  r  (On  tDhich  Declaration  was  wrttten) 

British  army  surrendered  to  Washington. 

When  General  Howe  and  the  British  troops  sailed  away  from  British  take 
Boston,  Washington  did  not  know  where  they  would  go  next.  NewYork 
But  he  thought  it  might  be  to  New  York,  so  he  hurried  there 
with  his  army.  Sure  enough,  after  several  weeks  the  British 
fleet  sailed  up  the  bay.  Howe  found  the  Americans  intrenched 
on  Brooklyn  Heights.  His  first  attempt  to  drive  them  away 
failed,  and  before  he  could  make  a  second,  Washington  crossed 
the  river  under  cover  of  a  fog,  and  retreated  up  the  Hudson. 

While  the  British  were  encamped  near  Brooklyn,  Washing- 
ton wished  to  know  how  many  soldiers  there  were  in  the 
enemy's  camp,  and   how  they  were    arranged.      To  get  this 


128 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Nathan  Hale  information,  somebody  must  go  into  the  camp  and  look  about 
him.  Such  a  man  would  be  a  spy,  and,  if  caught,  would  be 
hanged.  But  a  young  officer  named  Nathan  Hale  volunteered 
to  go.  Leaving  the  American  headquarters  near  New  York 
city,  he  went  to  Connecticut  and  from  there  crossed  the  Sound 
to  Long  Island.  Making  his  way  to  Brooklyn,  he  spent  a  few 
days  in  the  British  camp  taking  notes,  and  then  returned  to 
the  north  shore  of  Long  Island  to  await  a  chance  to  cross  the 
Sound  to  Connecticut.  One  day,  seeing  a  boat  coming  toward 
shore,  he  went  down  to  meet  it,  thinking  it  was  from  Connecti- 
cut, but  he  was  recognized  by  a  relative  who  sided  with  the 
British,  and  was  delivered  to  Howe. 

Hale  was  treated  with  great  harshness.  He  was  not  allowed 
to  send  a  letter  to  his  mother,  nor  to  read  his  Bible,  nor  to 
have  a  minister  visit  him.  He  was  a  spy,  and  he  was  hanged 
like  a  criminal.  When  about  to  die  he  said,  "  I  regret 
that  I  have  but  one  life  to  lose  for  my  country." 
These  words  are  now  carved  on  the  pedestal  of  a 
statue  erected  to  his  memory  not  far  from  the  spot 
in  New  York  city  where  he  died.  Hale  is  known 
as  the  Martyr  Spy  of  the  Revolution. 

From  New  York  Washington  passed  up  the 
Hudson  a  few  miles,  crossed  the  river,  and  led  his 
army  through  New  Jersey.  The  British  pressed 
him  hotly.  Discouraged  by  cold,  hunger,  and 
defeat,  many  of  the  soldiers  deserted,  and  the 
ranks  grew  thinner  every  mile.  But  Washington 
reached  the  Delaware  River  in  safety,  and  crossed 
into  Pennsylvania. 

Affairs   were    now  in   a   desperate    state, 

and  Washington  seemed  almost  disheartened. 

Statue  of  Nathan  Hale       Americans  who  took   the  side  of  the   King 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


129 


were  called  Loyalists  or  Tories,  and  there  were  plenty  of  them  The  Tories 

in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania.     The  army  got 

so  little  help  from  the  people  that 

the  patriot  cause  seemed  likely  to 

"remain  for  some  time  under  a 

cloud,"  as  Washington  wrote  to 

his  brother. 

But  the  cloud,  dark  as  it  was, 
soon  lifted. 

To  prevent  the  British  from 
crossing  the  Delaware  after  him, 
Washington     collected     all     the 
boats   for  miles  along  the  river. 
So  the  British  commander,  when 
he  reached  the  Delaware,  finding 
no  means  of  crossing,  resolved  to 
wait  till  the  river  was  frozen  and 
then     march    over    on    the    ice. 
But  while  he  waited  Washington 
acted,  and    on    Christmas   night, 
1776,  recrossed  the  Delaware  to 
make  an  attack  on  some  German 
soldiers  who  had  been  hired  by 
the  King  to  fight  for  him  ;  —  as  many  of  these  soldiers  were  victory  at 
from  a  part  of  Germany  called  Hesse,  they  are  known  as  Hes-  Trentoa 
sians.     The  night  was  bitterly  cold,  and  the  river  was  full  of 
great  blocks  of  floating  ice.      But  with  splendid  courage  Wash- 
ington crossed  with  his  little  army,  and  at  daylight  fell  on  the 
Hessians  at  Trenton,  beat  them,  and  took  one  thousand  prisoners. 

A  week  later  Washington  won  another  victory,  at  Princeton,  Princeton 
ten  miles  from  Trenton,  and  then  marched  on  to  the  hills  at 
Morristown,  where  his  army  passed  the  winter. 


Hudson  and  Delaware  valleys 


130 


THE   LONG   FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Burgoyne's 
surrender 


The  new    ^-tff-'^Si^^^     During  the  following  summer  (June, 
w  1777)    the     Continental     Congress 

adopted   the    stars   and   stripes    as 
our  national  flag.     The  first  flag 
of  this  kind  was  made  by  Betsy 
Ross  at  her  house  on  Arch  Street, 
Philadelphia.     The  building  still 
stands  and  is  carefully  preserved 
as  the  birthplace  of  "  Old  Glory." 
The    British    now  (1777)  at- 
tempted to  get  possession  of  the 
Hudson    River,    and    so    cut    off 
New  England    from    the   rest   of 
the  states.      But  when  an  army, 
under  Burgoyne,  came  down  from 
Canada    by   way    of    Lake    Cham- 
plain,  the  Americans,  under  General 
Gates,    captured    it    near    Saratoga, 
New  York,  and  the  attempt  failed. 

Meantime  another  British  army  sailed  from  New  York  to  take 
Philadelphia.  Washington  hurried  across  New  Jersey  and  met 
the  enemy  below  the 

City  ;  but  was  de- 
British  take  feated  on  Brancly- 
Philadelphia        •        ^        ,  ■,  ,    . 

wine  Creek,  and  later 
at  Germantown.  The 
British  then  passed 
the  winter  in  the  city, 
while  Washington 
and  his  army  were 
camped  not  far  away, 

at    V  alley  b  orge.  Washington's  headquarters  at  Morristown 


Betsy  Ross  house 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


131 


The  suffering  of  the  American  army  during  the  winter  was  The  suffering 
terrible  ;  but  let  those  who  were  there  tell  of  it  :    "  The  army  p^glley 
has  been  hi  great  distress  since  you  left,"  General  Greene  wrote 
to  General  Knox  ;   "the  troops  are  getting  naked.      They  were 
seven  days   without  meat  and  several   days  without   bread." 
"  The  men,"  said  Baron  Steuben,  a  brave  German  who  came 
over  to  help  us,  "  were  literally  naked,  some  of  them  in  the 
fullest  extent  of  the 
word."      "For  some 
days  past  there  has 
been  little  less  than 
a  famine   in   camp," 
Alexander  Hamilton 
wrote    to    the    gov- 
ernor of  New  York. 
"  I     am     now     con- 
vinced     beyond      a 
doubt,"   said  Wash- 
ington, "  that  unless 
some  great  change  takes  place  this  army  must  starve,  dissolve, 
or  disperse  in  order  to  obtain  provisions." 

But  these  grand  heroes  would  not  disperse.  They  would  Patience  of 
starve  rather  than  desert,  Well  did  John  Laurens  say,  "I  c 
would  cherish  these  dear  ragged  Continentals,  whose  patience 
will  be  the  admiration  of  future  ages."  "To  see  men,"  said 
Washington,  "  without  clothes  to  cover  their  nakedness,  with- 
out blankets  to  lie  upon,  without  shoes  (for  want  of  which  their 
marches  might  be  traced  by  the  blood  from  their  feet),  and 
almost  as  often  without  provisions  as  with  them,  marching 
through  the  frost  and  snow,  and,  at  Christmas  time,  taking  up 
their  winter  quarters  without  a  house  or  a  hut  to  cover  them 
till  they  could  be  built,  and  submitting  without  a  murmur,  is  a 


Washington's  headquarters  at  Valley  Forge 


soldiers 


132 


THE   LONG   FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Franklin  in 
France 


proof  of  patience  and  obedience  which  in  my  opinion  can  scarce 
be  paralleled." 

The  winter  at  Valley  Forge  was  the  darkest  period  of  the 
war.  But  the  darkest  hour,  as  the  proverb  says,  is  just  before 
dawn.  And  so  it  was  in  1778  ;  for,  while  the  army  was  starv- 
ing and  freezing  at  Valley  Forge,  France  came  to  the  aid  of  the 
Americans. 

In  the  year  1776,  Franklin  and  two  other  men  were  sent 
to  France  to  ask  for  arms  and  money.  Their  arrival  in  France 
was  followed  by  an  outburst  of  welcome.  Everywhere  French- 
men were  talking  of  the  Stamp  Act,  Concord,  Lexington, 
Bunker  Hill.  One  young  nobleman,  Lafayette,  left  France 
against  his  king's  orders,  came  to  the  United  States,  and  served 

under  Washington  till 
the  end  of  the  war. 

Lafayette  was  not 
the  only  foreigner  who 
took  up  arms  on  our 
side.  Others  of  his 
countrymen  did  so,  as 
well  as  the  German 
baron,  De  Kalb,  and 
Steuben,  "  the  drill- 
master  of  the  revolu- 
tionary army ;  "  and 
the  Poles,  Pulaski  and 
Kosciusko.  When 

Kosciusko  was  asked  what  he  could  do  to  help  us,  he  answered 
quickly,  uTry  me,"  which  greatly  pleased  Washington. 

Great  as  was  the  interest  Frenchmen  took  in  our  struggle, 
Franklin  was  unable  to  get  much  aid  from  France  till  the  arri- 
val of  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne.     It  was  then  cer- 


Foreigners 
fight  on 
our  side 

|Tn:: 

;y\Mm: 

fig 

' 

-    :     ;:  -A 

'■'■s^'MSMj£* 

US 

ggg|p£^- 

$£$s3MS&&k. 

i§ 

Intrenchments  at  Valley  Forge 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR    INDEPENDENCE 


133 


Franklin  at  the  French  court 
{From  an  old  engraving) 

tain  that  the  Americans  could  fight,  and  early  in  1778  the  French  France 
King  acknowledged  that  the  United  States  were  no  longer  Brit-  and  aids^s 
ish  colonies,  and  made  two  treaties  with  the  new  country. 

War  between  France  and  Great  Britain  followed  at  once ; 
and  when  General  Clinton,  who  now  commanded  the  British 
in  Philadelphia,  heard  that  a  French  fleet  was  coming  over, 
he  started  for  New  York.  Washington  hurried  from  Valley 
Forge  and  chased  him  across  New  Jersey  to  Monmouth,  where  Monmouth 
another  battle  was  fought.  Neither  side  won  ;  but  during  the 
night  the  British  went  on  to  New  York. 

Washington  followed  and  stationed  his  soldiers  at  several 
places  about  New  York,  in  order  to  watch  the  British  and  be 
ready  for  whatever  they  might  do  next.      In  this  way  these 

HCH.  PK.  H. 9 


134 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Wayne  takes  two  generals  and  their  armies  spent  many  months  without 
stony  point  figging  any  great  battles.  Once  Clinton  grew  bold  enough 
to  come  out  of  New  York  and  build  a  fort  at  Stony  Point, 
on  the  Hudson  River.  It  looked  as  if  Clinton  were  about 
to  push  up  the  river  to  the  American  camp  at  West  Point. 
Washington  wished  to  prevent  this,  so  he  sent  for  Anthony 
Wayne,  one  of  the  most  daring  soldiers  in  the  -army,  and  asked 
him  if  he  could  storm  Stony  Point.  Wayne  said  he  could,  and 
one  dark  night  with  a  gallant  band  of  men  he  did  storm  it,  and 
carried  off  guns  and  prisoners,  besides  destroying  the  fort. 


>XKc 


Kentucky  and 
Tennessee 

settled 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE  LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE  (Continued) 

During  the  year  1778,  while  great  things  were  taking 
place  in  Paris  and  in  New  Jersey,  events  of  perhaps  even 
greater  importance  were  happening  among  the  Indians  on 
the  far  western  frontier. 

Great  Britain  no  sooner  acquired  the  eastern  half  of 
the  Mississippi  valley  from  France,  than  backwoodsmen 
from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  began  to  cross  the 
mountains  to  hunt  and  trap  and  make  settlements  in 
what  are  now  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.     Some,  under 
Revolutionary      jy     {l    Boone,    formed    Boonesboro,    in    Kentucky. 

swords  J 

Others,    under    James    Harrod,    built    Harrodsburg. 

Others,  under  William  Bean  and  James  Robertson  and  John 
Sevier,  put  up  their  cabins  on  a  branch  of  the  Tennessee 
River  called  the  Watauga,  in  Tennessee.  These  settlements 
were  not  farms  or  little  villages,  but  frontier  forts  or  sta- 
tions. 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


135 


When  a  number  of  families  went  out  under  some  leader  to  a  frontier 
settle  in  the  wilderness,  they  would  select  their  ground,  cut  fort 

down  the  trees,  and  begin 


The  Ohio  valley 


to  build  a  fort,  in  the  form 
of   a   square.     One  side  of 
the  square  was  formed  by  a 
row  of  log  cabins.     Around 
the  other  three  sides,  and 
between  the  cabins,  was  a 
stockade  or   high  fence  of 
huge   logs    placed   side   by 
side   with   one    end   thrust 
into    the    ground.       In 
each  of  these  sides  were 
cut    loopholes,  and    in 
one  of  them  was  a  great  door  or  gate  that  could  be  strongly 
barred  when  necessary.     At  the  four  corners  of  the  stockade 
were  two-story  blockhouses.     Within  the  stockade  were  the 
cabins  whose  backs  formed  one  side  of  the  fort,  the  sheds 
where  cattle  and  provisions  could  be  kept,  and  in  the  center 
of  the  square  a  strong  blockhouse.     This  was  the  place  of  last 
resort.     If  the  gate  was  beaten  down,  or  if  the  stockade  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  it  was  to  the  central  blockhouse  that  the 
inmates  fled  to  defend  themselves  or  die. 

To  such  stations  the  settlers  came  in  time  of  war  or  when 
an  Indian  rising  was  feared.     In  time  of  peace  they  dwelt 
in  log  cabins  on  their  farms  or  clearings,  which  were  scat- 
tered over  the  country  for  miles  around  the  fort. 

But  peaceful  days  were  few.  The  pioneers  lived  in  con- 
stant war  or  dread  of  war  with  the  Indians.  Small  bands 
of  savages  were  generally  lurking  around  the  forts,  killing 
the  men  as  they  hunted  in  the  woods  or  worked  in  the 


136 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Wooden  canteen 


war  with  fields,  and  ready  to  carry  off  the  women  and  children  at  the 
Indians  £rgj.  chance#  Xhe  history  of  those  days  is  full  of  thrilling 
adventures,  narrow  escapes,  and  deeds  of  heroism. 
Thus  some  Indians  attacked  Fort  Henry,  on  the 
Ohio  River,  one  day  when  there  were  only  twelve 
men  and  boys  in  the  fort,  besides  a  number  of 
women  and  children.  The  white  men  fought 
bravely,  firing  through  the  loopholes  and  driving 
back  the  Indians  at  every  attack.  But  after  a 
while  their  powder  was  nearly  all  used  up. 
Then  the  commander  asked  for  a  volunteer  to  go  to  a  house 
outside  the  fort,  where  a  keg  of  powder  was  stored.  To  go 
meant  almost  certain  death ;  but  four  young  men  at  once 
offered.  While  they  were  disputing  about  it,  a  young  girl 
named  Elizabeth  Zane  said  :  "  Let  me  go  for  the  powder.  You 
can  not  spare  even  one  man.  There  are  too  few  in  the  fort 
now.     But  if  I  am  killed,  you  will  be  as  strong  as  ever." 

As  she  persisted,  the  gate  of  the  stockade  was  opened  just 
wide  enough  to  let  her  slip  out.  She  ran  to  the  house,  filled 
her  apron  with  powder,  and  started  to  return,  before  the  Indi- 
ans guessed  what  she  was  doing.  Then  they  fired  at  her  again 
and  again,  till  she  got  inside  the  gate. 
She  was  unhurt,  and  the  fort  was  saved, 
for  there  was  now  powder  enough  to 
last  till  more  white  men  came  and  drove 
the  Indians  away. 

The  country  north  of  the 
Ohio  River  was  claimed  by 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  Virginia;    but  in  reality 

the  region  was  as  much  British  as  the  province  of  Quebec,  to 
which  it  had  been  added  by  the  King  four  years  before.     Over 


Country  north 
of  the  Ohio 


Revolutionary  cannon 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE  137 

it  roamed  some  of  the  strongest  and  fiercest  of  the  Indian  tribes. 
It  contained  a  few  old  French  towns,  —  such  as  Detroit,  Kas- 
kaskia,  Vincennes,  —  and  a  few  forts  garrisoned  by  the  British, 
whom  the  Indians  looked  upon  as  the  successors  of  the  French 
and  the  rulers  of  the  land.  At  these  forts  and  towns  the 
Indians  obtained  their  muskets  and  powder,  and  were  aroused 
to  attack  the  backwoodsmen  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

Anybody  might  see  that  these  towns  and  forts  ought  to  be  George  Rogers 
taken,  that  the  country  ought  to  be  held  by  the  United  States, 
and  that  the  Indians  ought  to  be  made  to  stop  helping  the 
British.     But  it  was  left  for  a  young  Virginian,  George 
Rogers  Clark,  to  make  the  attempt  to  do  this. 

Clark  began  by  sending  spies  to  find  out 
the    strength    of    the    garrisons ;     then   he 
formed  a  plan  for  a  secret  expedition  to 
attack   them    suddenly   and  unexpectedly, 
and  finally  laid  his  plan  before  Patrick 
Henry,  governor  of  Virginia,  and  a 
few  others.     They  gave  him  what  aid 
they  could,  which  was   little  enough, 

J  '  .  Powder  house,  Virginia 

and  Clark  with  a  hundred  and  eighty 

men  went  down  the  Ohio  one  thousand  miles  from  Pittsburg, 

hid  his  boats  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  marched  across  the 

prairies,   and   took   the  town   and   fort   of    Kaskaskia  without  Takes  French 

resistance  (1778). 

The  French  settlers,  hearing  from  Clark  that  France  was 
aiding  us  in  the  war,  made  him  welcome,  and  Cahokia  and  two 
other  towns  likewise  submitted.  A  Catholic  priest  then  carried 
the  news  to  Vincennes  and  persuaded  the  French  in  that  town 
to  surrender. 

The  British  governor  at  Detroit,  learning  of  these  things, 
set  out  with  five  hundred  men,  Indians  and  regulars,  to  conquer 


138 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Importance  of 

Clark's 

conquest 


British  attack 
Charleston 


British  take 
Savannah 


the  country  again.  After  a  long  march  through  the  wilderness, 
the  troops  appeared  before  Vincennes  and  occupied  the  fort. 
But  Clark  was  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  marching  overland, 
in  the  dead  of  winter,  he  attacked  the  fort  so  vigorously  that 
the  British  surrendered,  and  the  governor  and  his  soldiers 
became  prisoners  of  war. 

Clark,  acting  for  the  state  of  Virginia,  had  now  conquered 
the  country  around  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  rivers.  The  con- 
quest was  most  timely,  for,  a  few  months  later,  a  band  of  Span- 
iards marched  from  St.  Louis  to  the  head  of  the  Illinois  River, 
captured  the  British  post  of  St.  Joseph,  and  claimed  the  whole 
Northwest  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

Now  let  us  see  what,  in  the  meantime,  had  happened  in  the 
East. 

Having  failed  to  conquer  the  Middle  States  in  1776-1778, 
the  British  next  sent  armies  against  the  Southern  States. 

Once  before  (in  1776),  a  fleet  had  appeared  off 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  to  attack  it.     But  the 
British  found  Colonel  Moultrie  and  his  men  behind 
two  rows  of  palmetto  logs  with  sand  between,  and 
after  firing  at  this  Fort  Moultrie  for  a  long 
time   and   doing   no   harm,   the    ships   sailed 
away.     While  the  battle  was  hottest  the  flag- 
staff was  struck  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  flag 
and  all  fell  outside  the  fort.      Instantly  a 
sergeant    named    William    Jasper    jumped 
down,  picked  up  the  flag,  fastened  it  to  a 
ramrod  used  to  load   one    of   the    cannon, 
climbed   back,    and    planted    it    firmly   on 
the  fort. 

The  British  were  successful  in  their  second  attack  on  the 
Southern  States,  however,  and  Savannah  was  easily  captured 


Jasper  monument,  Charleston 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


139 


Part  of  the  South 


(end  of  the  year  1778).     But  before  they  could  do  more,  a 
French  fleet  and  an  American  army  came  to  retake  the  town. 

While  the  ships  bombarded  from 
the  water,  the  army,  commanded  by 
General  Lincoln,  tried  to  storm  the 
British  works  by  land.  They  were 
driven  back,  and  among  the  dead 
were  the  brave  Polish  officer  Pulaski, 
and  Sergeant  Jasper,  who  fell  hold- 
ing in  his  hand  the  flag  given  him 
at  Fort  Moultrie. 

Georgia  was  now  overrun  by  the  British  take 
British.      Charleston  was  then  taken  charleston 
and  South  Carolina  overcome.     Thereupon  Congress  sent  Gen- 
eral Gates  against  the  British.     But  they  beat  him  at  Camden 
in  South  Carolina,  where  the  German  officer,  De  Kalb,  who  was 
fighting  for  us,  received  eleven  wounds,  of  which  he  died. 

It  is  said  that  when  the  British  minister  heard  of 
the  capture  of   Charleston  and   Savannah,  he   said, 
"We  look  on  America  as  at  our  feet."     But  there 
were  plenty  of  fighting  men  in  the  South  who     -*• 
did  not  intend  to  be  "at  his  feet."      Led  by    ;%- 
Marion,  Sumter,  and  Pickens,  the  men  hid  in 
the  swamps  and  fought  the  enemy  in  every 
way  they  could. 

Marion's  men  were  especially  active.  Their 
guns  were  such  as  hunters  used.  Their  swords 
were  made  of  pieces  of  saws  from  the  saw- 
mills. They  had  no  cannon,  no  forts,  no  place 
of  safety  but  the  woods  and  swamps.  Indeed, 
the  British  called  Marion  "the  Swamp  Fox." 
From  such  hiding  places  he  would  come  out       One  of  Marion's  men 


140 


THE   LONG   FIGHT   FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


Arnold  the 
traitor 


suddenly,  attack  a  party  of  the  enemy,  and  hurry  back  into 
the  woods.  When  a  strong  force  was  sent  to  take  him  he 
could  not  be  found.  But  in  a  little  while  he  would  appear 
in  another  place. 

With  the  British  in  possession  of  Savannah  and  Charleston, 
and  all  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  in  their  hands,  the  out- 
look for  the  patriots 
was  gloomy  enough. 
But  just  at  this 
moment  an  Ameri- 
can officer,  Benedict 
Arnold,  turned  trai- 
tor and  made  it 
gloomier  still.  No 
officer  had  rendered 
greater  services  than 
Arnold.  He  had 
joined  the  army  when 
it  was  before  Boston  ; 
had  led  a  terrible 
march  through  the 
Maine  woods  to  attack  Quebec  in  the  first  year  of  the  war ;  had 
distinguished  himself  for  bravery  in  the  attempt  to  capture  that 
city  ;  and  had  fought  desperately  in  a  battle  near  Saratoga,  thus 
doing  much  to  capture  Burgoyne.  But  in  1778  Arnold  was 
put  in  command  of  Philadelphia,  where  he  governed  so  un- 
justly that  he  was  condemned  to  be  reprimanded  by  Washing- 
ton. He  was  brave  and  daring  in  battle,  but  he  lacked  moral 
courage  ;  and,  thirsting  for  revenge,  he  laid  a  deep  scheme  to 
injure  the  patriot  cause. 

As  part  of  this  scheme  he  asked  Washington  for  the  com- 
mand   of   West    Point,   the   great   stronghold  on  the  Hudson 


Ruins  of  a  fort  at  West  Point 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


141 


House  at  Tappan  where  Major  Andre  was 
imprisoned 


River.     He  received  it,  and  at  once  formed  a  plan  to  give  up 

the  post  to  General  Clinton,  commanding  the  British  at  New  Major  Andre 

York.     Clinton's  agent,  Major  John 

Andre,  met    Arnold   near    Stony   , 

Point    one    day  in    September,         ,_ 

1780,  to  finish  the  plan.     But 

as  Andre  was  going  back  to 

New  York  he  was  stopped, 

searched,     and      seized     by 

patriot     soldiers.        In     his    - 

stockings  were  found  papers 

in  Arnold's  handwriting  which 

revealed   the    plot.      News   of 

the  arrest  of  Andre  was  at  once 

sent    to   Arnold.       It    reached 

him  as  he   sat  at  breakfast ;    instantly  rising  from  the  table, 

he  told  his  wife  of  his  danger,  and  fled  with  all  speed  to  a 

British  ship  down  the  Hudson.     West  Point  was  saved  to  the 

Americans.     Andre  was  tried,  convicted,  and  hanged  as  a  spy. 

And  now  the  dark  hours  of  the  war  were  over.     Five  days  victory  of 
after  the  hanging  of  Andre,  a  band  of  Tories,  who  were  over-  fountain 
running  South  Carolina,  were  met  at  Kings  Mountain  by  a 
swarm  of  hardy  Southern  mountaineers,  and  every  one  of  them 
was  killed,  wounded,  or  taken  prisoner. 

Victory  then  followed  victory,  and  in  a  few  months  General  General 

Greene,  who  had  been  sent  to 
succeed  Gates,  drove  the  Brit- 
ish into  Charleston  and  Savan- 
nah and  recovered  most  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia. 
A  large  British  army,  under  Corn- 
Powder  hom         wallis,  that  had  invaded  Virginia,  was 


Greene 


142 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


End  of  the 
war 


next  forced  to  make 
a  stand  at  York- 
town,  which  it  began 
to  fortify.  While  it 
was  so  engaged, 
Washington  hurried 
from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  New  York, 
and  with  American 
and  French  troops 
surrounded  the  place 
by  land,  while  a 
French    fleet,    under 

was  arranged)  ^  -\  r^ 

Count  de  Grasse, 
hemmed  it  in  by  sea,  and  forced  Cornwallis  to  surrender, 
October  19,  1781. 

This  was  the  last  battle  of  the  war.  The  British  gave  up 
the  struggle,  and  in  1783  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Paris 
by  agents  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  The  men 
who  represented  us  were  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and 
John  Jay.     By  this  treaty  certain  things  were  secured : 


Moore  house 

(  Where,  the  Cornwallis  surrende) 


Terms  of 
peace 


sovereign, 


as 


fully 


as 


Our  country  was  admitted  by  Great  Britain  to  be 

free,  and  independent." 
The   boundaries   of   our    country   were    stated 

possible. 
Citizens  of  the  United  States  might  catch  fish  in  the  waters 

of  Nova  Scotia  and  Canada  just  as  they  had  done  when 

British  subjects. 
Great  Britain  was  to  take  away  her  troops.     In  November 

the  last  of  the  British  army  sailed  away  from  New  York 

city. 


THE   LONG  FIGHT  FOR   INDEPENDENCE 


143 


SUMMARY 

1.  War  with  Great  Britain  began   in  New  England   with   the   battles    of 

Lexington  and  Concord  and  the  shutting  up  of  the  British  in  Boston 
(1775). 

2.  The  Continental  Congress  adopted  the  troops  around  Boston  as  the  Con- 

tinental Army,  and  made  George  Washington  commander  in  chief. 

3.  On  his  way  to  take  command,  Washington  heard  of  a  great  battle  at 

Bunker  Hill,  which  showed  that  Americans  could  fight. 

4.  The  colonies  now  formed  themselves  into  states,  and  these  thirteen  states 

were  declared  free  and  independent  of  Great  Britain  July  4,  1776. 

5.  The  British  left  Boston  by  water,  and  Washington  hurried  his  army  to 

New  York.     There  he  was  attacked  and  driven  up  the  Hudson,  and 
finally  across  New  Jersey  and  into  Pennsylvania. 

6.  From  Pennsylvania  he  crossed  the  Delaware  on  Christmas  night,  1776, 

captured  a  thousand  prisoners  at  Trenton,  fought  a  battle  at  Prince- 
ton, and  passed  the  winter  at  Morristown. 


faulting  by  Rossiter  and  Miynot 

Washington  and  Lafayette  at  Mount  Vernon 


■4- 


44  A  BETTER  GOVERNMENT  NEEDED 

7.  When  summer  came,  the  British  sent  an  army  under  Burgoyne  from 
Canada.  The  Americans  captured  it  near  Saratoga,  New  York.  This 
led  France  to  aid  us. 

8.  Meantime  a  British  army  sailed  from  New  York  to  attack  Philadelphia. 
Washington  hurried  to  meet  it;  was  defeated  in  two  battles;  and 
spent  the  winter  at  Valley  Forge  (1777-78). 

9.  As  the  British  in  the  Northwest  incited  the  Indians  to  repeated  attacks 
on  the  American  frontier  settlements  in  Kentucky,  George  Rogers 
Clark  led  a  band  of  Virginians  into  the  wilderness  north  of  the  Ohio 
River  and  captured  most  of  the  British  posts  in  that  region  (1778-79). 

10.  The  British  finally  turned  their  arms  against  the  Southern  States.  In 
Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  they  were  successful  at  first,  but  afterwards 
were  driven  away  by  General  Greene.  At  last  a  great  army,  under 
Cornwallis,  was  captured  at  Yorktown,  Virginia,  and  the  war  ended  in 
the  fall  of  1781. 

CHAPTER   XV 

A  BETTER  GOVERNMENT  NEEDED 

The  treaty  which  ended  our  old  troubles  with  Great  Britain 
brought  us  new  ones  with  Spain.  You  remember  that  during 
the  French  and  Indian  War,  Spain  fought  against  Great 
Britain;  that  Great  Britain  captured  Havana  ;  and  that  to  get 
it  back,  Spain  gave  her  Florida  in  exchange, 
what  Spain  Now  when  France  joined  us  in  our  war  with  Great  Britain, 
Spain  saw  a  chance  to  get  Florida  again,  so  she  also  declared 
war  on  Great  Britain,  in  1779,  and  sent  two  little  armies  to 
conquer  the  Gulf  coast  and  the  Mississippi  valley.  One  went 
from  New  Orleans  and  took  the  British  forts  at  Baton  Rouge, 
Natchez,  Mobile,  and  Pensacola  (see  map,  p.  43).  The  other 
went  from  St.  Louis,  in  the  dead  of  winter,  marched  across 
what  is  now  Illinois,  captured  the  fort  at  St.  Joseph,  and  took 
away  the  flags  as  proof  of  conquest. 


did 


A  BETTER  GOVERNMENT  NEEDED 


145 


Our  country's 
first  boundary 


Having  done  all  these  things,  Spain  claimed  that  she  owned  what  Spain 
the  country  from  the  Appalachian  Mountains  to  the  Mississippi,  c  aime 
and  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  When, 
therefore,  the  time  came  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace  at  Paris,  she 
insisted  that  the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States  should 
be  very  nearly  what  is  now  the  west  boundary  of  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  the  two  Carolinas,  and  Georgia. 

We  were  quite  willing  to  let  Spain  have  Florida,  but  noth 
ing  more;  so  when 
the  treaty  was  made, 
Great  Britain  gave 
her  Florida  and  a 
strip  along  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  as  shown 
in  white  on  the  sec- 
ond map  on  page  232. 
The  great  region 
from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Mississippi,  and 
from  Spanish  Florida 
to  the  Great  Lakes  and  Canada,  became  the  United  States. 
But,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  Spain  for  a  time  still  claimed  part 
of  this  territory. 

The  immense  wilderness  won  from  Great  Britain  and  Spain 
was  claimed  by  seven  of  the  thirteen  states  :  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  New  York,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia. 
The  other  six  states  had  about  their  present  limits. 

At  the  request  of  Congress,  however,  the  states  one  by  one  western  lands 
gave  what  were  called  their  back  lands  to  Congress.     These  .^J^ 
were  to  be  sold,  and  the  money  used  to  pay  the  debts  owed  by 
the  United  States.      The  back  lands  were  to  be  governed  by  the 
Congress,  or  in  some  way  that  Congress  should  decide  upon. 


Monro  Castle,  Havana 


146 


A   BETTER    GOVERNMENT   NEEDED 


Stagecoach 


Where  the 
people  lived 


Now  it  so  happened  that  the  lands  given 
by  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New- 
York,  and  Virginia  lay  between  the 
Ohio  River  and  the  Great  Lakes, 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Mississippi. 
Congress  made  this  entire  tract 
a  territory,  which  it  called  the 
Territory  of   the   United    States 
Northwest  of  the  River  Ohio. 
Except  at  Detroit  and  Macki- 
nac, and  a  few  other  places  where  the  French  had  settled,  the 
territory  was  without  white  inhabitants,  and  was  roamed  over 
by  Indians  and  wild  beasts.     As  a  matter  of  fact  no  part  of  our 
country  was  thickly  settled.      There  are  to-day  more  people  in 
the  city  of  New  York  than  lived  in  the  whole  United  States  in 
1783.     Most  of  the  people  then  dwelt  in  the  cities,  towns,  and 
villages,  and  on  the  farms  and  plantations,  of  the  states  lying 
along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the  different  states  had  very  little 
communication  with  one  another.     Travel,  except  by  sea,  was 
very  slow  and  dangerous.     There  were  no  railroads,  no  steam- 
boats, no  good  roads,  and  no  bridges  over   the  wide  rivers. 
Now,  it  takes  five  hours  to  go  from  Boston  to  New  York. 
Then,  it  took  six  or  even  nine  days.     Now,  you  may  go  from 
New  York   to    Philadelphia  in  two  hours;    then,  it  required 
two  days. 

The  chief  occupations  of  the  people  were  cod  fishing,  ship- 
of  the  people  buii^g^  an(j  commerce,  in  New  England;  lumbering,  agricul- 
ture, and  commerce,  in  the  Middle  States;  and,  in  the  Southern 
-States,  growing  tobacco,  rice,  and  indigo,  and  making  tar,  pitch, 
and  resin. 

Each  one  of  the  thirteen  states  had  its  own  government,  as 
it  has  to-day.     But  the  control  of  the  Indians,  and  some  of  our 


Occupations 


A  BETTER  GOVERNMENT  NEEDED  147 

dealings  with  foreign  nations,  as  making  war  and  peace,  were  Powers  of  the 
intrusted  to  the  Continental  Congress.  congress  * 

There  was  no  President  of  the  United  States  in  those  days. 
The  Congress  was  composed  of  a  few  men  sent  by  the  legisla- 
tures of  the  thirteen  states.  These  men  could  do  many  things, 
but  a  little  experience  showed  that  they  could  not  do  nearly 
enough  for  the  good  of  the  country. 

Congress,  for  instance,  could  not  tax  the  people  for  money 
with  which  to  pay  the  country's  debts.  It  could  merely  ask 
the  states  for  what  it  wanted.  But  the  states  did  not  give  all 
that  was  needed. 

Congress,  in  the  next  place,  could  not  regulate  trade  with 
foreign  nations;  could  not  force  them  to  treat  us  fairly. 
Neither  Spain  nor  Great  Britain  would  make  a  treaty  of  com- 
merce with  us. 

Congress  had  no  power  to  regulate  trade  between  the  states. 
As  a  consequence  each  state  regulated  its  trade  as  it  pleased. 
New  York,  for  instance,  treated  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey  as 
foreign  countries  and  laid  heavy  taxes  on  firewood  that  came 
from  the  one  and  on  vegetables  that  came  from 
the  other.  This  angered  New  Jersey, 
who  sent  word  to  Congress  that  unless 
it  forced  New  York  to  take  off  the  taxes, 
she  would  not  pay  her  annual  share  of  the 
cost  of  the  continental  government. 

Each  state  had  its  own  paper  money, 
and   this  was   not  good   in    other   states. 
Except   gold   and   silver,    of   which  very 
little  was  to  be  seen,  there  was  no  money     ^j 
that  people  all  over  the  country  would  take. 
More  than  one  state  had  to  pass  a  law  to  force 
its  citizens  to  use  the  paper  money  it  issued. 


148 


A  BETTER  GOVERNMENT  NEEDED 


The 

Constitutional 

Convention 


Congress  asked  the  states  to  give  it  power  to  remedy  all 
these  defects.  For  a  while  they  would  not ;  but  matters  be- 
came so  bad  that,  in  1787,  delegates  from  twelve  states  met  in 
Independence  Hall  at  Philadelphia  to  consider  what  new  powers 
should  be  given  to  Congress. 

These  delegates  were  the  most  distinguished  men   in   the 
country,  and   the   names   of  many  of  them  are   still  familiar. 
Among  them  were  Washington  and  Madison,  who  afterwards 
became  Presidents ;  Elbridge  Gerry,  a  future  Vice  President ; 
Ellsworth,  who  in  time  became  Chief  Justice  of   the  United 
States  Supreme  Court ;   Alexander  Hamilton,  a  famous  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury; 
Robert  Morris,  who 
had  helped  to  raise 
the  money  needed  to 
carry  on  the  Revolu- 
tionary War ;    Ben- 
jamin  Franklin  and 
others      who       had 
signed   the  Declara- 
tion    of     Independ- 
ence ;      and     many 
others     who     after- 
wards   held    impor- 
tant places  under  the 
United    States   gov- 
ernment.  Washington  was  made  the  president  of  the  convention. 
The  These  men  drew  up  what  is  known  as  the  Constitution  of 

constitution  ^1G  United  States.  The  Constitution  is  a  written  document 
which  describes  the  plan  of  the  general  government  under 
which  we  live.  It  fixes  the  powers  of  the  President  and  tells 
how  he  shall  be  elected.     It  provides  for  a  Congress  composed 


Old  windmill,  Massachusetts 
{Still  used) 


A  BETTER  GOVERNMENT  NEEDED 


149 


Pennsylvania  Statehouse,  or  Independence  Hall,  in  Philadelphia 


of  two  bodies  of  men  —  a  Senate  and  a  House  of  Representa- 
tives ;  and  it  provides  for  United  States  courts. 

Congress  has  now  all  the  power  the  Continental  Congress 
ever  asked  for,  and  more  too.  It  does  not  have  to  ask  the 
states  for  money ;  it  lays  taxes  and  has  the  sole  power  of  coin- 
ing money,  and  it  may  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations 
and  between  the  states. 

After  the  Philadelphia  convention  had  made  the  Constitu-  The  new 
tion,  copies  were  sent  by  Congress  to  the  legislatures  of  the  JgV®™ment 
states.     Each  state  government  then  called  a  convention  to  con- 
sider the  new  plan  and  approve  or  disapprove  of  it,  as  seemed 
best.     When  nine  states  had  in  this  manner  approved  it,  the 

MOM.   PR.   H.  10 


150 


TROUBLE  WITH  FRANCE  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN 


Constitution  was  to  be   supreme   law   as   to   the   nine. 

Eleven  approved  within  a  year,  and  the  two  others  a 

little  later  ;   and  the  Constitution  took  the  place  of 

the  Articles  of  Confederation,  which  had  described 

the   powers    of   the   Continental    Congress.     The 

place  of  meeting  of  the  new  Congress  was  New 

York  city,  and  there,  in   1789,  Washington  was 

made  the  first  President  of  the  United  States. 


SUMMARY 


Chair  used  by  Wash- 
ington at   his    in- 
auguration 1.   By  the   treaty  of   peace  we   acquired   the   territory  be- 
tween  the   Atlantic   and    the   Mississippi,  the   Great 
Lakes  and  Florida. 

2.  The  population  was  small  and  scattered  along  the  coast,  travel  was  dif- 

ficult and  slow,  and  trade  between  the  states  was  of  little  value. 

3.  Each  state  had  its  own  government  as  at  present.     But  over  all  was  a 

weak  general  government  carried  on  by  the  Continental  Congress. 

4.  The  plan  of  the  general  government  was  defective  in  many  ways,  and 

was  finally  replaced  by  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 


>xx< 


CHAPTER   XVI 


TROUBLE   WITH   FRANCE    AND    GREAT  BRITAIN 


Our  country's 
capital 


When  Washington  was  made  President,  Congress  met  in 
New  York  city.  But  it  was  decided  that  a  square  tract  of 
land,  ten  miles  on  a  side,  should  be  obtained  somewhere,  and 
on  this  tract  a  federal  city  should  be  built  as  a  home  for  the 
government.  In  it  were  to  be  the  President's  house,  the  build- 
ing in  which  Congress  should  meet  to  make  laws,  and  any  other 
buildings  that  might  be  needed.  Congress  having  decided  that 
the  federal  city  should  be  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  the 


^ 


151 


152 


TROUBLE    WITH   FRANCE 


Trouble  with 
France 


tract  was  laid  out  partly  in  Maryland  and  partly  in  Virginia, 
and  was  called  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  city  was  named 
Washington. 

But  it  would  take  some  years  to  erect  the  buildings  and 
form  the  city.  Congress  therefore  decided  that  it  would  meet 
in  Philadelphia  for  ten  years  before  it  went  to  Washington, 
where  all  sessions  of  Congress  have  been  held  since  1800. 

Not  long  after  Congress  met  in  Philadelphia  a  war  broke 
out  between  France  and  Great  Britain.  Our  country  did  not 
take  sides  with  either.  But  France  tried  hard  to  force  us  to 
side  with  her,  and,  when  she  found  we  would  not,  she  treated  us 
so  shamefully  that  when  John  Adams  was  President  the  whole 
country  cried  out  for  war.  An  army  was  raised  and  General 
Washington  was  called  from  his  home  at  Mount  Vernon  and  put 
in  command.  The  people  in  the  large  seaports  gave  money  for 
war  ships,  and  volunteered  to  build  forts  and  earthworks. 

In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  our  national  song  "  Hail 


Washington's  home  at  Mount  Vernon,  on  the  Potomac 


TROUBLE    WITH   FRANCE 


153 


French  naval 
vessel 


Columbia"  was  written.     Philadelphia,  as  the  seat  of  govern-  "Hail 
merit,  was  a  most  intensely  excited  city.     The  citizens  were  Colum  ia 
divided  into  two  bodies,  each  distinguished  by  cock- 
ades worn  on  their  hats.     Such  as  hated  the  Presi- 
dent and  upheld   France  wore  the  red,  white,  and 
blue,  or   tricolor   cockade.     Those  who   sided  with 
the  President  and  resisted  the   French  insolence     , 
wore  the  black  cockade  of  the   Revolution.      So 
high  did  feeling  run  that  if  two  excited  men  of 
opposite   parties   met   in   the   street,   each  was 
pretty  sure  to  try  to  snatch  the  other's  cockade. 
In  the  evenings  at  the  theater  one  party  would  call 
for  "  Yankee  Doodle,"  and  the  other  for  a  song  that 
had  been  popular  in  France. 

This  suggested  to  one  of  the  actors  the  idea  of 
finding  some  one  to  write  a  new  patriotic  song,  and 
accordingly  he  applied  to  Mr.  Joseph  Hopkinson,  who  wrote 
"  Hail  Columbia  "  to  suit  a  very  popular  piece  of  music  called 
"  The  President's  March,"  to  which  we  sing  it  to  this  day.  It 
was  sung  for  the  first  time  at  Philadelphia  one  night  in  1798, 
was  printed  in  the  newspapers  the  next  day,  and  at  once 
became  a  national  song. 

Among  other  things,  France  demanded  a  tribute  from  us  as  if  Naval  war 
we  were  a  conquered  nation.     The  popular  cry  therefore  became  Wlth  France 
"Millions  for   defense,  not  a  cent  for  tribute,"  and  when  the 
navy  began  to  beat  the  French  in  the  West  Indies,  it  was  said 
we  were  giving  them  the  only  kind  of  tribute  they  deserved  — 
shot  and  shell. 

The  war  was  entirely  on  the  sea,  and  after  four  of  her 
naval  vessels  had  been  captured  or  destroyed,  and  great  num- 
bers of  merchantmen  burned,  France  made  peace  with  us  in 
1800. 


154 


TROUBLE   WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN 


Impressment 
of  American 
sailors 


Our  troubles  with  Great  Britain  and  France  having  been 
thus  settled,  it  seemed  as  if  people  might  look  forward  to  a 
long  period  of  peace  and  quiet.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  In  a 
few  years  Great  Britain  and  France  were  again  at  war,  and  the 

old  troubles  returned  in 
a  worse  form  than  ever. 
British  armed  vessels 
came  over  to  our  coast, 
stopped  our  ships  as  they 
went  in  and  out  of  our 
ports,  and  searched  them 
for  British  sailors. 

An  American  packet 
or  trader  would  sail  from 
Boston  or  New  York  or 
Baltimore  for  Europe  or 
the  West  Indies.  But 
long  before  she  reached  her  destination  a  British  cruiser  would 
appear  and  fire  a  signal  gun.  If  no  attention  was  paid,  a  shot 
would  soon  come  skipping  over  the  water  and  across  the  pack- 
et's bow,  forcing  her  to  stop.  A  boat  would  then  put  off,  and 
an  officer  and  a  band  of  armed  men  would  clamber  upon  the  deck 
and  order  the  captain  to  muster  his  crew.  When  the  sailors 
were  all  in  line,  the  British  officer  would  pick  out  such  men  as 
pleased  him,  claim  them  as  subjects  of  the  King,  and  drag  them 
off  to  his  ship. 

This  was  called   "  impressment,"   because    the    men    were 
"  pressed  "  or  forced  to  serve  against  their  will.     The  patience 
Chesapeake   with  which  we  submitted  to  this  treatment  made  the  British 
and  Leopard  j^^  anc[  one  jay  as   an  American   frigate  called  the   Chesa- 
peake was  on  her  way  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea  she  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  British  vessel,    the   Leopard,    was    fired    on    and 


Monticello,  Jefferson's  home  (in  Virginia) 


TROUBLE   WITH   GREAT  BRITAIN 


155 


forced  to  surrender,  after  which  four  seamen  were  taken  from 
her  deck. 

But  impressment   was  not  the    only   cause  for  complaint,  interference 
Great  Britain  meddled  with  our   trade   and  commerce.     She  ^ht^n' 
ordered  our  merchants  not  to  deal  in  certain  kinds  of  goods, 
and  stopped  and  searched  their  vessels  to  see  that  they  obeyed. 
She  forbade  them  to  go  to  a  great  number  of  ports  in  Europe, 
and  tried  to  seize  such  ships  as  continued  to  go  to  these  ports. 

Nor  did  Napoleon,  then  Emperor  of  France  and  master  of 
half  Europe,  treat  us  any  better.  He  commanded  our  mer- 
chants not  to  send  their  ships 
to  any  port  that  was  under 
the  British  flag.  He  seized 
numbers  of  our  vessels  in  his 
own  ports,  and  he  declared 
that  any  vessel  that  submitted 
to  be  searched  by  a  British 
cruiser  should  be  captured 
wherever  found. 

By  1807  matters  had  come 
to  such  a  pass  that  our  ships 
and  goods  were  liable  to  be 
captured  by  somebody  wher- 
ever they  went.  There  was 
just  one  of  two  things  then 
to  do.  We  must  fight  for 
our  rights  on  the  sea,  or  we 

must  abandon  the  sea.     Upon  the  advice  of  Jefferson,  who  was 
then  President,  Congress  decided  to  abandon  the  sea,  and  for  The  long 
more  than  a  year  an  embargo  was  placed  upon  all  merchant  embars° 
shipping ;  that  is,  no  trading  ships  were  allowed  to  go  from  an 
American  port  to  any  foreign  country, 


Schoolhouse  where  Jefferson  went  to  school 


156 


TROUBLE    WITH   GREAT   BRITAIN 


The  War  of 
181a 


It  was  supposed  that  this  embargo,  this  O-grab-me,  as  the 
people  called  it,  by  spelling  the  name  backwards,  would  force 
Napoleon  and  Great  Britain  to  treat  us  better.  The  British 
and  French  could  not  buy  our  cotton,  lumber,  pork,  flour,  and 
other  products,  which  were  of  great  value  to  them.  They 
could  not  sell  their  cloth,  china,  glass,  hardware,  tools,  silks, 
wines,  and  a  hundred  other  things  in  our  cities.  Yet  the 
embargo  had  no  good  effect.  Matters  grew  worse  instead  of 
better,  and  in  1812,  when  James  Madison  was  President,  Con- 
gress declared  war  against  Great  Britain. 

■  To  fight  Great  Britain  was  a  bold  thing  to  do.  For  nearly 
twenty  years  she  had  been  at  war  with  France  and  with  Napo- 
leon. In  her  navy  were  more  than  a  thousand  armed  vessels. 
In  her  army  were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  soldiers.  We  had 
no  army,  and  a  navy  of  but  sixteen  ships.     Yet  the  war  dragged 

along  for   more   than 


two  years,  and  both 
on  land  and  on  sea 
the  greatest  triumphs 
were  ours. 

The  British  cap- 
tured Detroit  and  got 
control  of  the  North- 
west. But  Perry 
captured  the  British 
fleet  on  Lake  Erie ; 
McDonough  destroyed  another  fleet  on  Lake  Champlain ;  Gen- 
eral Macomb  beat  the  British  at  Plattsburg  in  New  York  ; 
and  General  W.  H.  Harrison  beat  them  again  on  the  Thames 
River  in  Canada,  and  recovered  Detroit  and  the  Northwest. 

At  sea  during  the  war  thirteen  important  captures  were 
made  and  but  four  serious  defeats  were  suffered.     One  of  the 


Part  of  the  northern  frontier 


TROUBLE    WITH   GREAT   BRITAIN 


157 


Painting  by  IV.  II.  Powell 


Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie 


American  ships  captured  was  the  unlucky  frigate  Chesapeake 
that  six  years  before  had  been  attacked  by  the  Leopard  and 
had  had  four  sailors  taken  from  her  deck.  She  was  now 
captured  by  the  Shannon. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  war,  Great  Britain  sent  over  a  fleet  British 
and  blockaded  the  whole  coast,  shut  our  vessels  in  port,  and  so 
put  an  end  to  our  sea  victories.  One  part  of  this  fleet  captured 
eastern  Maine  ;  another  with  an  army  on  board  sailed  up  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  where  the  troops  landed  and  marched  to 
Washington  and  burned  the  Capitol,  the  President's  house,  and 
some  other  public  buildings. 

Returning  to  their  ships,  the  soldiers  were  carried  to  Balti- 
more, which  was  attacked  by  land  and  water.  It  was  during 
the  bombardment  of  a  fort  defending  Baltimore  that  Francis 
Scott  Key  wrote  "  The  Star-Spangled  Banner."  Under  a  flag 
of  truce  he  had  gone  on  board  one  of  the  British  ships  to  secure 


"  The  Star- 
Spangled 
Banner  " 


158 


TROUBLE    WITH   GREAT   BRITAIN 


Andrew 
Jackson 


the  release  of  some  prisoners  taken  by  the  British,  and  was 
himself  held  prisoner  during  the  bombardment,  which  lasted 
all  one  day  and  part  of  a  night.  The  scene  from  the  deck  of 
the  enemy's  vessel  must  indeed  have  been  inspiring,  and 
aroused  by  it  he  wrote  the  poem  which  has  since  been  a 
national  song.     The  opening  lines  describe  the  scene  :  — 

O  say,  can  you  see,  by  the  dawn's  early  light, 

What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming  ? 
Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars  through  the  perilous  fight, 
On  the  ramparts  we  watched  were  so  gallantly  streaming ; 
And  the  rocket's  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air, 
Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there. 
O  say,  does  the  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave? 

Finding  they  could  not  take  the  fort  and  capture  Baltimore, 
the  British  again  went  on  board  their  ships,  sailed  away,  and 
joined  another  fleet  and  army  that  was  to  attack  New  Orleans. 
But  the  Americans,  under  General  Andrew  Jackson,  were 
more  than  a  match  for  them. 

Andrew  Jackson  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  and  when  a 
boy  of  fourteen  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  band  of  British  troops 

and  Tories  who  were 
roving  about  the 
state  during  the 
Revolutionary  War. 
One  of  the  officers, 
wishing  to  have  his 
boots  cleaned,  ordered 
young  Jackson  to  do 
it ;  an  order  which 
the  lad  stoutly  re- 
fused  to    obey.     In- 


The  Hermitage,  Jackson's  home  (in  Tennessee) 


TROUBLE   WITH   GREAT   BRITAIN 


159 


Table  of  Jackson's  time 


stead  of  admiring  the  pluck  of  the  boy,  the  officer  aimed  a 
blow  at  him  with  a  sword.     Jackson  drew  up  his  arm  to  ward 

off  the  blow,  and  received  a 
gash,  the  scar  of  which  he  car- 
ried through  life. 

After  the  War  for  Inde- 
pendence Jackson  removed  to 
Nashville,  then  a  little  stock- 
aded fort  far  out  on  the 
frontier,  and  was  soon  known 
as  a  man  of  courage  and 
determination.  For  a  while  after  Tennessee  %Ba^me  a  state  he 
was  a  member  of  Congress.  Next  he  was  a  judge*,  and  when 
the  war  with  Great  Britain  opened,  he  raised  a  regiment  of 
volunteers.  But  his  services  as  a  soldier  began  when  the 
Creek  Indians  took  the  warpath  and  attacked  the  whites. 

These  Creeks  lived  in  what  is  now  Alabama,  and  had  long  The  Creek 

War 

been  preparing  for  an   attempt   to   drive   out   the 
whites  ;   and  in  1813  they  dug  up  the  hatchet  and 
drove  the  settlers  from  their  farms  to  the  little 
frontier   forts.       Into   one   of   these,  called   Fort 
Mims,  not  far  from  Mobile,  were  gathered  sev- 
eral hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  when  a 
thousand   Indians,  painted,  naked,  well  armed, 
and  led  by  their  prophets   carrying  red  sticks 
and  bags  of  magic,  suddenly  attacked  it. 

The  defense  was  desperate  ;   but  the  In- 
dians won,  and    massacred    nearly  all   of 
the  inmates.      As  soon   as  news  of  the       / 
awful    deed    reached    Tennessee,   troops 

were    called    out,    Jackson   was    put    in      Calashj  a  woman>s  headdress 
command,   and    in    a    few  months'   time  worn  in  Jackson's  time 


160 


TROUBLE    WITH    GREAT   BRITAIN 


Battle  of 
New  Orleans 


he  destroyed  the  Indian  power  and  made  peace  on  his  own 
terms. 

This  exploit  made  Jackson  so  famous  that  he  was  put  in 
command  of  the  army  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  and  he  was  in 
New  Orleans  when  the  British  landed  in  the  swamps  below  the 
city.  Two  little  fights  took  place  at  once.  But  the  famous 
battle,  the  anniversary  of  which  is  celebrated  even  in  our  day, 
was  fought  on  January  8,  1815. 

The  Americans  were  behind  a  long  line  of  intrenchments, 


and  were, 
shots  with 


Treaty  of 
peace 


almost  every  one  of  them,  frontiersmen  and  fine 
a  rifle.     The  British  were  veteran  troops,  were 
led  by  able  generals,  and  came  bravely 
on  to  the  attack.     But  the  Americans 
Sb*    delivered  a  dreadful  fire,  which  drove 
%      the  British  back  with  terrible  slaugh- 
ter.    It  was  the  old  story  of  Bunker 
Hill,  with  a  happier  ending,  for  the 
British  were   defeated  and   after  a 
while    sailed    away.      One    of    the 
results    of    the    victory    of    New 
Orleans    was     to     make     General 
Jackson  well  known  to  the  peo- 
ple, so  that,  fourteen  years  later, 
he  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

When  the  battle  was  fought,  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain  had  already  been  signed  at  Ghent  in  Holland.  But 
ocean  travel  was  slow  in  those  days,  and  news  of  peace  did  not 
reach  the  United  States  for  a  month  after  Jackson's  victory  at 
New  Orleans.  This  treaty  of  Ghent  said  nothing  at  all  about 
the  impressment  of  sailors  or  about  the  rights  of  trading  ships ; 
but  since  then  our  ships  and  sailors  have  not  been  illtreated  as 
they  were  before  the  war. 


Battle  of  New  Orleans  monument 


BUILDING   THE    WEST  161 


SUMMARY 

1.  France  and  Great  Britain  were  at  war,  and  France  illtreated  us  because 

we  would  not  side  with  her.  At  last  war  with  France  began  ;  but 
after  a  few  naval  battles  in  the  West  Indies  she  made  peace  with  us. 

2.  The  United  States  had  three  complaints  against   Great  Britain.     She 

"  impressed "  our  sailors ;  searched  our  ships ;  interrupted  our  com- 
merce.    Failing  to  get  satisfaction  for  these  wrongs,  we  went  to  war. 

3.  The  fighting  was  along  the  Canadian  border ;  along  the  Atlantic  coast ; 

on  the  ocean  ;  and  at  New  Orleans. 

4.  Along  the  Canadian  border  the  British  were  at  first  victorious.     But  the 

American  victories  of  Perry  on  Lake  Erie,  of  Harrison  on  the  Thames 
River  in  Canada,  of  McDonough  on  Lake  Champlain,  and  of  Macomb 
at  Plattsburg,  more  than  made  up  for  the  defeats. 

5.  Along  the  seacoast  the  British  blockaded  the  ports,  burned  the  public 

buildings  at  Washington,  attacked  Baltimore,  and  seized  part  of  Maine. 

6.  On  the  sea  many  British  ships  were  defeated  or  captured. 

7.  At  New  Orleans  General  Andrew  Jackson  won  a  great  battle. 

CHAPTER   XVII 

BUILDING   THE    WEST 

From  a  very  early  time  in  colonial  days  the  people  had  Moving  to 
been  moving  slowly  westward  from  the  coast.  Under  the  new  Kentucky 
government  of  the  United  States,  this  march  of  population 
became  rapid.  One  stream  of  emigrants  went  up  the  Mohawk 
valley,  in  New  York.  Another  took  possession  of  Tennessee. 
But  the  favorite  land  was  Kentucky.  Into  it  every  year  went 
thousands  of  men  and  women  from  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania. 
Some  went  over  the  mountains,  with  their  goods  on  the  backs 
of  horses,  driving  their  flocks  and  herds  before  them.  Others 
went  by  way  of  the  Ohio.  They  would  go  to  Pittsburg  or 
Wheeling  and  there  buy  or   build  a  boat  of  some   kind,  put 


162 


BUILDING   THE    WEST 


Ohio  River  keel  boat 


Three  new 
states 


their  household  goods  and  cattle  on  board,  and  float  down  the 
river  to  their  settlement.      The  boat,  generally  a  flat  boat  made 
like  a  square  box,  or  a  longer  keel 
boat,  was  broken  up  at  the  end  of 
the  voyage  and  used  in  build- 


ing a  house. 

It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  the  Indians  looked  quietly 
on  while  this  stream  of  settlers 
spread  over  their  hunting 
grounds.  They  did  their  best  to  drive  the  white  men  out,  and 
the  early  history  of  Kentucky  is  an  almost  continuous  story 
of  murder  and  massacre. 

But  neither  the  hardships  of  frontier  life  nor  the  horrors  of 
Indian  war  kept  out  population.  Year  after  year  the  settlers 
poured  in,  and  in  1792  Kentucky  became  a  state  in  the  Union, 
and  was  followed  four  years  later  (1796)  by  Tennessee.  With  the 
exception  of  Vermont,  which  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1791, 
these  were  the  first  new  states  added  to  the  original  thirteen. 
North  of  Kentucky,  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Lakes,  and 
from  Pennsylvania  to  the  Mississippi,  —  that  is,  in 
the  Northwest  Territory,  —  most  of  the  land 
belonged  to  the  United  States,  and 
was  offered  for  sale  to  the  people 
in  order  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  War 
for  Independence.  Though  the 
•  United  States  owned  the  land, 
the  British  and  their  Indian  allies 
really  occupied  it.  The  British 
4**  held  the  forts  along  the  Great  Lakes, 
traded  with  the  savages,  and  sold  them 
Conestoga  wagon  guns  and  powder. 


**-.. 


BUILDING  THE   WEST  163 

With  guns  and  powder  so  obtained,  the  Indians  tried  to  Ohio  settled 
drive  out  the  people  who  were  settling  north  of  the  Ohio. 
Concealed  in  the  woods  along  the  banks,  the  redskins  attacked 
the  boats  as  they  floated  by  ;  they  even  put  out  in  canoes  and 
climbed  on  board  to  massacre  the  immigrants.  Sometimes 
when  a  boat  was  seen  coming  down  the  Ohio,  the  Indians  would 
force  a  white  prisoner  to  stand  at  the  water's  edge  and  beg 
piteously  to  be  taken  on  board  ;  and  when  the  immigrants 
stopped  to  help  him,  the  savages  would  kill  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  on  the  boat. 

When  the  whites  in  return  attacked  the  Indians  and  burned 
their  towns,  a  war  broke  out  and  raged  during  six  years.  One 
army  was  badly  beaten ;  another  was  almost  de 
stroyed  ;  but  a  third,  under  General  Anthony 
Wayne,  broke  the  power  of  the  Indians  and 
gave  peace  to  the  frontier.  About  the  same 
time,  Great  Britain  surrendered  the  fron- 
tier forts  she  had  so  long  been  holding. 
Then  the  settlers  came  in  such  numbers 

that  after  a  few  years  a  piece  of  this  terri- 

.      «.        j  j      .  .  Blockhouse  at  Erie,  Pa. 

tory  was  cut  off  and  made  into  the  state  {Built  hy  Wayne) 

of  Ohio  (1803). 

Ever  since  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  Spaniards  had  Trouble  with 
been  doing  on  our  southern  boundary  what  the  British  did  pam 
along  our  northern.  They  occupied  forts  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi  in  our  territory,  and  refused  to  give  them  up  ;  made 
allies  of  the  Indians  ;  and  so  really  held  what  is  now  the  greater 
part  of  the  states  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  More  than  this, 
Spain  had  refused  to  allow  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  go 
down  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  She  owned 
the  country  all  around  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Therefore  she 
claimed  the  right  to  say  who  should  use  its  waters,  and  many 


164 


BUILDING   THE    WEST 


Scythe 


The 

Louisiana 

purchase 


years  passed  before  she  agreed  to  permit  our  people 
to  take  their  produce  to  New  Orleans,  and  promised  to 
withdraw  her  soldiers  from  our  soil. 

The  crowding  of  Spain  out  of  Mississippi  alarmed 
France.  As  a  great  Frenchman  said,  "Americans 
seemed  determined  to  rule  America."  By  and  by 
they  would  force  Spain  out  of  the  country  alto- 
gether. That  would  never  do.  He  proposed, 
therefore,  that  Spain  should  give  back  to  France 
the  Louisiana  which  France  in  1763  had  given  to  Spain. 
If  so,  France  would  promise  never  to  let  the  United  States 
have  it. 

After  much  persuasion  Spain  agreed  to  this,  and  in  1800 
returned  Louisiana  to  France.  But  as  soon  as  the  Spanish 
officials  at  New  Orleans  heard  of  it,  they  again  shut  the  Missis- 
sippi to  our  western  people  and  would  not  let  them  trade  at 
New  Orleans.  The  whole  West  of  course  cried  out,  and  Con- 
gress was  asked  to  send  an  army  to  take  possession  of  the 
mouth  of  the  river  before  France  could  occupy  the  country. 
But  President  Jefferson  preferred  peace,  and  finally  our  gov- 
ernment bought  Louisiana  from  France  for  $  15^000,000.  This 
nearly  doubled  the  size  of  our  country,  as  shown  by  the 
first  map  on  page  233. 

As  nobody  knew  anything  about   most  of  Louisi- 
ana, Congress  asked  the  President  for  information, 
and  received  a  most  curious  description.     Jeffer- 
son of  course  did  not  write  it,  but  had  it  writ-    I 
ten,  and  merely  sent  it  to  Congress.     Among 
other  things  the  writer  told  of  a  great  salt 
mountain  which  existed,  he  said,  one  thou- 
sand miles  up  the  Missouri.     The  length 
of   the    mountain   was    one  hundred   and  Broadax 


BUILDING  THE   WEST 


.165 


eighty  miles;  the  width  forty- 
five  miles  ;  and  there  was  not 
a  tree  nor  so  much  as  a  bush 
on  it ;  but,  all  glittering 
white,  it  rose  from  the  prairie 
a  solid  mountain  of  salt,  with 
streams  of  salt  water  flowing 
from  its  base. 

When  such  stories  were 
seriously  told  to  Congress 
there  was  much  need  of  real 
information,  and  this  was 
soon  to  be  supplied  by  a 
party  of  explorers  led  by 
Meriwether  Lewis  and  Wil- 
liam Clark.  Starting  from 
St.  Louis,  which  was  then  a 
frontier  town,  these  explorers 
made  their  way  up  the  Mis- 
souri River  to  a  place  in  the  present  state  of  North  Dakota, 
and  there  spent  the  winter  with  the  Indians.  Early  the  next 
spring  (1805),  the  explorers  set  out  again,  followed  the  Missouri 
to  its  sources,  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  went  down  the 
Columbia  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  next  year  they  came 
back  to  St.  Louis. 

Lewis  and  Clark  were  the  first  of  our  countrymen  to  explore  Discovery  of 
the  Columbia  ;  but  the  river  had  been  discovered  and  named  the  Columbia 
several  years  before  by  Captain  Gray,  of  Boston.      While  en- 
gaged in  trading  for  furs  on  the  Pacific  coast,  he  sailed  into  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  named  it  after  his  ship,  the  Columbia. 

The  discovery  of  the  Columbia  gave  the  United  States  a 
claim  to  all  the  country  it  drained,  and  this  country,  when 


A  trail  in  Idaho 

(Used  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  still  in  use) 


MoM.  PR.  H. 


11 


166 


BUILDING  THE   WEST 


Florida 
purchase 


Moving  to 
the  West 


Frontier 
houses 


added  to  that  purchased  from  France,  extended  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific. 

Along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  we  as  yet  owned  only 
the  region  about  the  mouth   of   the   Mississippi. 
All  the  rest  of  the  Gulf  coast  belonged  to  Spain 
till  1819,  when  she  sold  us  Florida. 

The  money  paid  for  it  was  not  given  to  her, 

but  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  whom  she 

Wooden  piggin       was  indebted.     At  the  same  time,  Spain  and  the 

United  States  settled  our  southwestern  boundary,  as  shown  on 

the  second  map  on  page  233. 

The  West  was  now  fairly  swarming  with  settlers.  The 
hard  times  in  the  East  which  followed  the  war  with  Great 
Britain  sent  many  thousands  over  the  mountains  every  year. 
Never  before  had  such  a  migration  taken  place  in  our  country. 
Men  of  all  sorts,  farmers,  mechanics,  tradesmen,  seemed  crazy 
to  go  west. 

Once  there,  the  "mover,"  the  "newcomer,"  would  secure 
his  land,  cut  down  a  few  small  trees,  and  make  a  half-faced 
camp.  This  was  a  shed  with  three  sides  of  logs  and  the  fourth 
side  open.  When  it  rained,  the  open  side  was  closed  by  hang- 
ing up  deerskins. 

In  a  half-faced  camp  the  settler  lived 
till   his  log   cabin  was  finished.     If  he 
made  his  home  in  a  place  where  there 
were  other  settlers,  they  would  all 
come    and    help    build    the     cabin. 
These  frontier  homes  rarely  had  more 
than  one  window  and   one   door.      As 
glass  was  scarce  and  costly,  the  window 
frame  was   often   covered   with    greased       Wooden  pail 


BUILDING   THE    WEST 


167 


k paper,  which  let  in  the  light  but  could  not  be  seen 
through.      The  tables  and  chairs  were  made  by  the 
settler.     His  brooms  and  brushes  were  of  corn  husks, 
and  many  of  his  utensils  were  cut  out  of  tree  trunks. 
If  the  man  was  industrious,  he  would  of  course  get 
a  better  house  in  time.     But  in  pioneer  days  a 
large  part  of  the  settlers  lived  and  died  in  log 
cabins,  such  as  are  described  on  page  66. 

In  just  such  a  house  in  Indiana  there  was 
growing  up  at  this  time  a  boy  named  Abraham 
Lincoln.     He  was  born  in  a  little  log  hut  in  Ken- 
tucky, February  12,  1809.     His  father  was  a  restless,  shiftless, 

^^      seeking   the   easiest  way 


Cornhusk  broom 


Abraham 
Lincoln's 
boyhood 


ne'er-do-well  man,  always 
to  make  a  living,  who,  in 
dering  from  place  to  place, 
when  Abraham  was  seven 
but  a  child,  Abraham 
and  set  to  work  to  help 
the    half-faced    camp 
lived  for  a  year, 
no  door 


(■ 


Lincoln's  broadax 


the  course  of  his  wan- 
.  moved  into  Indiana 
years  old.  Though 
was  given  an  ax 
clear  the  ground  for 
in  which  the  family 
The  cabin,  when  built,  had  a  doorway,  but 
a  window,  but  no  oiled  paper  or  glass  ;  and  nothing 
but  the  bare  earth  for  a  floor.  Little  Abraham's  bed  was  a 
heap  of  dry  leaves  in  the  loft,  to  which  he  climbed  by  pegs 
driven  into  the  cabin  wall. 

As  he  grew  older  he  learned 
all  the  things  a  frontier  settler's 
boy  must   know.      He  could    --'■ 
plow,  cut  grain  with  a  sickle, 
thrash  it  with  a  flail,  and  clean    ^ 
it  with  a  sheet ;  he  could  chop 

wood,  split  rails,  drive  teams,  and    ""  vi^^^^\.1  J=^M 
handle  carpenter's  tools,  and  could  Birthplace  of  Lincoln 


168 


BUILDING   THE    WEST 


Cabinet  made  by 
Lincoln 


The  settler's 
farm 


do  all  so  well  that  when  his  father  did  not 
need  his  help  he  could  hire  him  out  to 
a  neighbor  for  more  than  ordinary  wages. 
Abraham  learned  to  read,  write,  and 
cipher  at  a  school  taught  by  some  of  the 
schoolmasters    who  in  those   days  wan- 
dered about  the  country  from  town  to 
town.      He  went  to  school,  as  he  said, 
"  by  littles";  in  all,  his  schooling  did  not 
amount  to  more  than  a  year. 

As  soon  as  he  could  read  he  began  to 
borrow  every  book  he  heard  of,  —  among  them  iEsop's  "  Fables," 
Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  a  "  Short 
History  of  the  United  States,"  and  Weems's  "  Life  of  Wash- 
ington." This  last  book  got  wet,  and  he  bought  it  of  the 
owner  by  "  pulling  fodder  "  for  three  days.  For  a  slate  he 
used  the  wooden  fire  shovel,  or  shingles,  when  they  were  to  be 
had,  scraping  them  clean  when  they  were  covered  with  sums. 
His  pencil  was  a  charred  stick.  From  the  borrowed  books  he 
copied  long  extracts,  using  brierwood 
ink  and  a  quill  pen  made  from  a  turkey 
buzzard's  feather.  When  paper  was 
not  to  be  had,  he  wrote  the  extracts  on 
shingles  or  bits  of  board. 

After  Lincoln  grew  up,  he  moved  to 
Illinois   and  became    a    lawyer,    and 
before  he   died,  the  whole  world  had 
heard  of  him. 

When  the  land  about  a  cabin  was 
wooded,    the   settler   would   clear   it   of 
bushes  and  would  cut  down  and  burn 
the  small  trees.     The  larger  trees  were     Lincoln's  law-office  chair 


BUILDING  THE   WEST 


169 


killed  by  cutting  a  deep  "  girdle "  around  them  near  the 
ground.  In  the  fields  thus  laid  open  to  the  sun  would  be 
planted  corn,  potatoes,  and  wheat.  At  first  the  crops  raised 
would  be  scarcely  enough  to  feed  the  family,  but  by  and  by 
they  would  be  much  larger,  and  part  of  them  could  be  taken 
to  a  river  town  and  there  sold  for  "  store  goods." 

These  river  towns  were  often  little  shipping  ports,  from 
which  flour,  pork,  lumber,  and  provisions  of  all  sorts  would  be 
sent  to  New  Orleans. 

The  Ohio  River  was  now  a  great  highway  of  trade  teeming  Ohio  River 
with  life.     Up  and  down   it  went  odd   craft  of   many  sorts. 
There  were  Orleans  boats,  loaded  with  flour,  hogs,  and    £2<±£& 
produce  ;  great  fleets  of  timber  rafts  from  the 
Appalachian  Mountain  streams,  manned   ,,. 
by  fifty  boatmen  ;   pirogues,  dug 
out  of  the  trunks  of  huge  trees  ; 
broadhorns,  guided  by  great  oars 
called  sweeps ;  arks  carrying  whole 
families   of   immigrants  with  their 
cattle  and  household  goods  ;   steamboats 
that   stopped   anywhere    and   everywhere 
to  get  wood,  or   take   on   goods,  or  land 

passengers  ;  and  floating  stores.  These  stores  were  little  one- 
story  houses  built  on  the  deck  of  a  boat,  and  fitted  up  just  as 
if  they  were  on  land.  As  a  boat  of  this  sort  floated  along 
down  the  river,  the  captain  would  blow  a  horn  the  moment  a 
farmhouse  or  a  village  came  in  sight.  The  people  would  then 
hurry  to  the  river  bank,  the  boat  would  make  fast  to  a  tree, 
and  in  a  few  moments  the  store  would  be  crowded.  Dry 
goods,  hardware,  iron  pots,  farm  implements,  and  many  other 
things  were  for  sale.  But  they  were  not  bought  with  money. 
The  farmers  gave  grain,  flour,  pork,  bacon,  in  exchange,  and 


Ohio  River  flatboat 


trade 


boatmen 


170  BUILDING  THE   WEST 

these  the  storekeeper  sold  for  money  to  somebody  who  would 
ship  them  to  New  Orleans. 
Mississippi  The  Mississippi  was  quite  as  crowded  as  the  Ohio ;  for  into 
it  came  boats  of  all  sorts  from  the  Ohio,  the  Cumberland,  the 
Tennessee,  the  Missouri,  loaded  with  goods  going  to  New 
Orleans.  A  traveler  who  saw  one  of  the  Mississippi  towns 
at  this  time  tells  us  that  often  a  hundred  craft  arrived  and 
departed  in  a  day.  There  would  be  gathered  lumber  from  the 
forests  of  Pennsylvania,  Yankee  notions  from  New  England, 
pork  and  flour,  hemp  and  rope  from  Kentucky,  corn,  apples, 
and  potatoes  from  Ohio,  cattle  and  horses  from  Illinois,  lead 
and  poultry  from  Missouri,  and  barges  carrying  nothing  but 
turkeys. 
The  river  As  the  boats  lay  side  by  side,  the  crews  would  wander  from 
one  to  another,  seeking  old  friends  and  making  new  acquaint- 
ances. At  dusk  all  would  go  ashore  to  have  a  good  time.  But 
by  midnight  all  would  quiet  down.  At  the  first  streaks  of 
dawn  bugle  after  bugle  would  ring  out,  the  boats  would  again 
be  astir,  and  long  before  the  sun  was  up  the  whole  flotilla  would 
once  more  be  on  its  way  down  the  river.  Then  they  would  no 
longer  go  singly,  but,  lashed  together  in  little  fleets  of  eight  or 
ten,  would  float  on  toward  New  Orleans,  while  the  boatmen 
whiled  away  the  time  with  dancing,  singing,  music,  and  story- 
telling. At  New  Orleans  the  produce  and  lumber  would  find 
a  ready  sale,  after  which  the  boatmen  would  work  their  passage 
up  the  Mississippi  as  deck  hands  on  the  steamboats. 
New  western  As  people  continued  to  come  into  the  West  by  thousands 
year  after  year,  the  country  began  to  be  pretty  well  settled, 
and  between  1812  and  1821,  Louisiana,  Indiana,  Mississippi, 
Illinois,  Alabama,  and  Missouri  were  made  states. 

To  trade  with  the  people  in  these  Western  States  was  a 
matter  of  great  importance  to  the  merchants  and  manufao 


States 


BUILDING  THE   WEST 


171 


turers  in  the  Atlantic  seaboard  states.     But  in  order  to  send 
them  clothing,  hardware,  farm  implements,  and  other  things, 
there  must  be  some  easy  way  of  getting  to   the  West.     The 
people  of  New  York  state  decided  that  their  easy  way  should  The  Erie 
be  a  canal  from  the  Hudson  River  to  Lake  Erie,  and  after  eight 


Copyright,  l'JOO,  by  C.  Klackner 


Travel  by  canal 


years  of  hard  work  they   completed   and   opened  (1825)  the 
Erie  Canal  from  end  to  end. 

This  stirred  up  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  who  began  to 
join  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg  by  a  highway  partly  canal 
and  partly  railroad. 

In  many  ways  it  was  nOw  much  easier  to  go  about  the  coun- 
try than  it  was  when  the  War  for  Independence  ended.  Many 
of  the  large  rivers  were  crossed  by  bridges.  Between  the  chief 
towns  better  roads  had  been  made.  Over  them  the  stage- 
coaches, drawn  by  good  horses,  passed  more  swiftly  than  of  old. 
A  traveler  could  go  just  about  twice  as  far  in  a  day  in  1825  as 
he  could  in  Washington's  time,  and  with  about  the  same  risk  ; 
for  now  and  then  a  stage  would  upset,  as  in  earlier  days. 

The  greatest  progress  had  been  made  in  travel  on  the  water,  The 
for  the  steamboat  was  now  in  use  on  many  bays  and  rivers 


steamboat 


172 


BUILDING   THE    WEST 


through  the  water  by 
steam  was  old.      Sev- 


The  railroad 


The     idea     of     driving     a    boat 
means  of  a   machine   moved   by 
eral  men  had  invented  such  ma- 
chines   and   moved   boats.      But 
the  successful  use  of  such  boats 
dates     from    one    August    day 
in   1807,  when    Robert    Fulton 
made    a    trip    up    the    Hudson 
from    New  York   to  Albany  in 
the  Clermont. 

The  next  great  improvement  in  the  means  of  travel  was  the 
building  of  a  railroad,  that  is,  a  roadway  with  rails,  over  which 


Early  type  of  locomotive 


heavily  loaded  cars  could 
body  thought  very  much 


Early  type  of  locomotive 


be  drawn  by  horses.  But  no- 
about  railroads  till  an  English- 
man named  George  Stephenson 
invented  the  steam  locomotive 
and  showed  that  it  could 
move  long  trains  of  cars 
much  faster  than  horses 
could.  There  were  soon 
built  a  few  short  railroads 
in  our  country,  on  which  horses  were  at  first  used  to  draw  the 
cars.  But  after  1831  the  steam  locomotive  came  into  general 
use  here,  and  many  railroads  were  built. 

SUMMARY 

1.  The  arrival  of  settlers  west  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains  was  the  cause 
of  a  long  and  bloody  warfare  with  the  Indians.  But  the  Indians  could 
not  drive  back  the  whites.  Settlers  came  in  greater  numbers  than  ever, 
and  three  Western  States  soon  entered  the  Union :  Kentucky  in  1792, 
Tennessee  in  1796,  and  Ohio  in  1803.  Vermont  in  the  East  had  entered 
the  Union  in  1791. 


BUILDING   THE    WEST 


173 


2.  Until  1800  Spain  owned  Louisiana  (New  Orleans  and  the  valley  of  the 

Mississippi  west  of  the  river)  and  all  our  Gulf  of  Mexico  coast.     In 
1800  she  gave  Louisiana  to  France,  from  whom,  in  1803,  we  bought  it. 

3.  The  Columbia  River  was  discovered  some  years  before  this  by  an  Ameri- 

can sea  captain  named  Gray. 

4.  The  new  territory  purchased  from  France  and  the  Columbia  River  coun- 

try were  explored  by  Lewis  and  Clark. 

5.  Florida  was  purchased  from  Spain  in  the  year  1819,  and  at  the  same 

time  Spain  and  the  United  States  agreed  on  a  definite  boundary  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Pacific. 

6.  After  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain  more  people  went  west  from  the 

seaboard  states.     Life  in  the  log  cabins  on  the  frontier  was  hard  at 
first,  but  the  settlers  came  by  thousands  every  year. 


Copyright,  1894,  by  E.  L.  Henry 


Early  railroad  travel 


7.  The  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  became  great  highways,  crowded  with  craft 

of  every  sort,  from  flatboats  and  rafts  to  steamboats. 

8.  The  effect  of  this  immigration  was  to  build  up  six  new  Western  States, 

admitted  between  1812  and  1821 :  Louisiana,  Indiana,  Mississippi,  Illi- 
nois, Alabama,  and  Missouri. 

9.  Trade  with  the  people  in  the  Western  States  was  very  important  to  the 

people  of  the  East,  and  led  to  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  across 
New  York  and  of  canals  and  railroads  across  Pennsylvania. 


174  SLAVERY   QUESTION   BEGINS   TO   MAKE   TROUBLE 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    QUESTION   OF   SLAVERY   BEGINS   TO   MAKE   TROUBLE 

Slavery  When  our  country  was  under  the  British  Crown  there  were 
three  great  classes  of  laborers,  —  freemen,  redemptioners,  and 
slaves.  Free  laborers  were  those  who  were  paid  for  their  work. 
What  redemptioners  were  was  told  in  Chapter  V.,  where  men- 
tion was  also  made  of  the  negro  slaves  that  were  early  brought 
to  America  from  Africa. 

A  slave  belonged  absolutely  to  the  owner.  He  could  be 
sold,  or  given  away,  or  hired  out,  exactly  as  a  horse  or  an  ox. 
He  could  not  own  anything,  even  if  he  found  or  made  it,  nor 
could  he  leave  the  plantation  where  he  belonged  without  per- 
mission. It  was  not  lawful  to  teach  a  slave  to  read 
or  write,  and  to  set  him  free  was  a  very  difficult 
matter.     A  slave  woman's  children  were  slaves. 

Down  to  the  opening  of  the  War  for  Independ- 
ence Great   Britain   forced  the   colonies   to   allow 
slavery.     Several  of  them  tried  to  abolish  it,  but 
this  was  always  prevented.     After  the  war 
the  states  were  able  to  do  as  they  pleased, 
and  in  time  those  from  Pennsylvania  east- 
ward to  New  Hampshire  abolished  slavery. 

The  people  in  the  states  south  of  Pennsylvania 

would  probably  in  time  have  done  the  same  had 

they  not  begun  to  grow  cotton  in  great  quantities. 

Before  1790  it  did  not  pay  to  raise  cotton  because 

of  the   difficulty  of  cleaning  it.       Raw  cotton,  or 

cotton  cotton  wool,  grows  inside  of  a  pod  on  a  bush.     When  the  pod 

is  ripe,  it  splits  open  and  shows  the  cotton  with  a  number  of 

seeds  in  it,  which  must  be  picked  out  before  it  can  be  spun 


SLAVERY   QUESTION  BEGINS  TO  MAKE   TROUBLE         175 

into  threads.     To  pick  them  out  by  hand  was  so  slow     I 
and  costly  that  a  machine  to  do  the  work  was  greatly         y 
needed,  and  this  machine  Eli  Whitney  invented.  ^  pj     |*  ) 

Whitney  was  born  in  Massachusetts.     When  a         \.    |  *,  e     Whitney's 
young  man  he  went  to  Georgia  to  teach,  and  while  Nfj 

at  Savannah  heard  of  the  difficulty  of  cleaning  /^M     jV 

cotton  and  set  about  removing  it.     He  was  a  ^J^jj  ! 
born   inventor  and   mechanic,  had  used  tools 
from  boyhood,  and  soon  made  a  machine  which     .  ^^ 
he  called  a  cotton  gin,  the  word  "gin"  being  ^L      \ 

a  short  term  for  "  engine."  -„    Wi  fifr  ,p 

After  the  invention  of  Whitney's  machine,  ^|5p^ 

cotton  raising  became  very  profitable.     But  '^onDv 

the  greater  the  quantity  grown,  the  greater  J 


the  demand  for  negro  slaves  to  plant  the  seed  and 
gather   the    cotton  wool,   and    slavery  became    more 
firmly  established  than  ever  before  in  the  Southern       Cotton 
States  where  cotton  was  grown. 

In  the  Northern  States,  where  cotton  was  not  raised,  the  The  dispute 
people  were  much  opposed  to  slavery,  and  when  at  last  Mis-  over  Mlssoun 
souri  asked  for  admission  into  the  Union,  Northern  men  insisted 
that  she  must  be  a  free  state,  that  is,  one  in  which  slavery 
was  not  allowed.  The  Southern  people,  on  the  other  hand, 
demanded  that  she  enter  as  a  slave  state.  Of  the  new  states 
already  admitted  to  the  Union,  those  north  of  the  Ohio  were 
free  and  those  south  of  it  slaveholding,  so  that  in  the  whole 
Union  of  twenty-two  states  there  were  eleven  of  each  kind. 

During  the  discussion  in  Congress  about  admitting  Missouri, 
Massachusetts  gave  her  consent  that  Maine  should  become  a 
state.  Up  to  this  time  Maine  had  been  part  of  Massachusetts. 
When  the  consent  of  this  state  to  a  separation  was  given,  Maine 
applied  to  Congress  for  leave  to  enter  the  Union. 


176  SLAVERY   QUESTION  BEGINS   TO  MAKE   TROUBLE 


The  Missouri 
Compromise 


Henry  Clay's  home  (in  Kentucky) 


Boundary  of 
slave  territory 


The 
Abolitionists 


But  there  were  no  slaves  in  Maine.  The  South,  therefore, 
made  use  of  this  fact,  and  said  to  the  North,  if  Maine  comes 

into  the  Union  as  a  free  state,  Mis- 
souri must  come  in  as  a  slave 
state.  And  so  it  was  finally 
arranged.  Maine  was  ad- 
mitted in  1820,  and  Missouri 
in  1821.  But  at  the  same 
time  it  was  agreed  that  in  all 
the  country  purchased  from 
France  in  1803,  north  of  the 
parallel  of  36°  30',  except 
Missouri,  there  should  be  no 
slavery.  This  was  called  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  and  was  brought  about  through  the 
influence  of  Henry  Clay,  a  very  distinguished  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Kentucky. 

This  compromise,  it  was  hoped,  would  put  an  end  to  all  dis- 
putes about  slavery.  If  you  start  at  the  Delaware  River  and 
follow  the  south  and  then  the  west  boundary  of  Pennsylvania 
to  the  Ohio  River,  then  go  down  that  river  to  the  Mississippi, 
then  up  the  Mississippi  and  around  the  north  and  west  bound- 
ary of  Missouri  to  the  parallel  of  36°  30',  and  then  along  that 
parallel  to  the  meridian  of  100°,  you  will  have  the  line  which 
in  1821  separated  the  slaveholding  from  the  free  part  of  the 
United  States.  In  all  the  region  south  of  this  line  slavery 
existed.  In  all  the  country  north  of  it  slavery  had  been 
abolished  or  was  prohibited. 

In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Clay  and  many  other  people  this 
settled  the  matter.  But  there  were  others  who  insisted  that 
it  did  not,  and  that  slavery  ought  to  be  abolished  by  Congress ; 
that  it  ought  not  to  exist   anywhere  in  our  country.     These 


SLAVERY   QUESTION   BEGINS   TO   MAKE   TROUBLE  177 


were  the  Abolitionists,  and  their  most  celebrated  leader  was 
William  Lloyd  Garrison. 

One  of  the  ways  used  to  arouse  a  feeling  against  slavery  Antisiavery 
was  to  scatter  antisiavery  newspapers,  pamphlets,  pictures,  agJ  a  lon 
books,  and  handbills  all  over  the  South.  The  South  declared 
that  such  things  were  dangerous,  as  they  were  likely  to  make 
the  slaves  rebellious,  and  called  on  the  North  to  stop  their 
publication,  and  put  down  the  antisiavery  societies.  There- 
upon, in  many  Northern  cities,  mobs  broke  up  the  meetings 
of  the  antisiavery  people,  and  destroyed  antisiavery  news- 
paper offices. 

Violence  made  matters  worse.  The  feeling  against  slavery 
grew  stronger  and 
spread  wider,  and  in 
1840  a  new  politi- 
cal party,  afterwards 
called  the  Liberty 
Party,  was  organized, 
and  pledged  to  work 
for  the  freeing  of  the 
slaves. 

In   1840    William 
Henry  Harrison  was 
elected  President  by 
the   party  called  Whigs, 
had  been : — 


Free  and  slave  territory  in  1821 

Up   to   that   time    our   Presidents  The  first  ten 

Presidents 


George  Washington     . 

1789-1797 

James  Monroe 

1817-1825 

John  Adams 

1797-1801 

John  Qnincy  Adams    . 

1825-1829 

Thomas  Jefferson 

1801-1809 

Andrew  Jackson 

1829-1837 

James  Madison    . 

1809-1817 

Martin  Van  Bnren 

1837-1841 

But   Harrison  had  been  President  only  a  month   when  he 
died,  and  the  Vice  President,  John  Tyler,  succeeded  him. 


178  SLAVERY   QUESTION  BEGINS   TO   MAKE   TROUBLE 

With  the  stormy  politics  of  Tyler's  term  we  need  not  be 
concerned.     But  there  is  one  event  connected  with  the  story 
of  slavery  and  the  growth  of  country  which  must  be 
mentioned. 

Some  twenty  years  before  this  time,  citizens  of 
the  United  States  went  in  large  numbers  to  settle 
in  Texas,  then  a  part  of  Mexico.     Although  Mex- 
ico had  been  made  a  republic  patterned  after  the 
United  States,  its  government  was  much  less  free 
than  ours  and  in  many  respects  was  really  very 
cruel  and  tyrannical.     For  Mexicans  and  Ameri- 
cans to  live  quietly  together  under  such  a  govern- 
ment as  that  of  Mexico  was  impossible.      They 
soon  disagreed,  quarreled,  went  to  war,  and  in  1836 
the  Americans  made  a  declaration  of  independence, 
and  Texas  became  a  republic. 
A  fashionable  man  Xhe  Texans  then  wished  to  bring  their  repub- 

lic into  our  Union  as  a  state.  People  who  wanted 
Annexation  more  slave  states  approved  of  this  because  there  was  slavery  in 
Texas.  Those  who  did  not  want  more  slave  states  opposed  it, 
and  so  the  question  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  a  very 
serious  one  for  some  years.  At  last,  in  1844,  when  a  new 
President  was  to  be  elected,  the  Democratic  Party  declared  for 
the  annexation  of  Texas.  This  meant  that  if  their  candidate, 
James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee,  was  elected,  and  if  they  had  a 
majority  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  they  would  admit  Texas 
as  a  new  state.  When,  therefore,  Polk  was  chosen,  President 
Tyler  urged  Congress  without  delay  to  take  the  steps  necessary 
to  admission,  and  in  the  last  days  of  his  term  Congress  did  so, 
and  in  1845  Texas  became  the  twenty-eighth  state  in  the  Union. 
Since  the  admission  of  Maine  and  Missouri,  the  states  of  Arkan- 
sas, Michigan,  and  Florida  had  been  admitted. 


SLAVERY   QUESTION  BEGINS   TO   MAKE   TROUBLE         179 


At  the  same  time  that  the  Democrats  declared  for  the  annex-  The  Oregon 
ation  of  Texas,  they  demanded  a  settlement  of  our  dispute  with  country 
Great  Britain  over  the  ownership  of  the  Columbia  River  valley, 
or  the  Oregon  country,  as  it  was  called. 

You  will  recall  that  we  claimed  this  country,  first  by  rea- 
son of  Captain  Gray's  discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  (1792), 
and  second  by  its  exploration  by  Lewis  and  Clark  some  years 
later.  A  third  claim  was  based  on  its  settlement,  for  John 
Jacob  Astor  of  New  York  had  sent  out  settlers  and  founded 
Astoria,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia. 

For  certain  reasons  Great  Britain  disputed  our  claims,  and 
in  1818  it  was  agreed  that  for  ten  years  to  come  the  country 
should  be  open  to  the  people  of  both  nations.  r:v 

When  the  ten-year  period  was  drawing  to       \  ^ 

a  close,  the  question  of  occupying  the  Ore-  - 
gon  country  was  discussed  in  Congress. 
But  Oregon  seemed  so  far  away,  so  un-  '■  i 1 :::., 
likely  to  be  settled  for  many  years,  that 
the  old  agreement  with  Great  Britain  was 
renewed  without  a  time  limit,  and  this  was 
the  state  of  affairs  in  1842. 

Now,  it  happened  that  in  1842  another 
boundary  dispute  with  Great  Britain,  which       I 
had  been  going  on   for   sixty  years,  was 
finally  settled.    Ever  since  the  end  of  the  War   , 
for  Independence,  Great  Britain  had  claimed   ' 
that  the  northern  half  of  Maine  belonged  to 
her.     We  claimed  that  it  did  not  and  insisted 
on   a   boundary   north    of    the    present    line. 
Several  attempts  were  made  to  end  the  dis- 
pute, but  it  was  not  till  1842  that  a  treaty       A  fashionable  woman 
was    agreed    on    and    the    line    determined.  about  1840 


M 


180  SLAVERY   QUESTION  BEGINS   TO   MAKE   TROUBLE 


boundary 


When  it  was  known  that  the  dispute  about  Oregon  had  not 
been  settled  at  the  same  time,  the  people  were  much  displeased, 
and  the  Democrats  thought  it  wise  to  demand  a  settlement. 
Northwestern  Texas  was  slave  soil ;  Oregon  would  surely  be  free  soil.  It 
was  good  policy,  therefore,  when  adding  to  our  slaveholding 
area,  to  add  at  the  same  time  a  piece  of  territory 
to  our  free  area.  So  they  called  for  occupation 
of  Oregon  up  to  54°  40'.  "  The  whole  of  Oregon 
or  none  "  was  the  cry  ;  "  Fifty-four  forty  or  fight." 
Happily,  it  was  not  necessary  to  fight,  and  the 
two  countries  in  1846  agreed  to  make  the  49th 
parallel,  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the 
coast,  the  boundary  of  Oregon. 

Meantime   the    annexation    of    Texas   was 

causing  trouble  for  us  with  Mexico,  for  two 

reasons.       First,  though  Texas  was  really 

an   independent   republic,   Mexico   refused 

to  admit  the  fact,  and  insisted  that  Ave  had 

no  right  to  annex  the  country.      Second, 

Texas  claimed  the  Rio  Grande  as  a  boundary,  while  Mexico 

denied  this  and  would  have  placed  the  dividing  line  at  the 

Nueces  River,  farther  east. 

Now,  Congress  having  annexed  Texas,  which  claimed  the 
Rio  Grande  as  its  west  boundary,  President  Polk  sent  troops 
under  Zachary  Taylor  to  take  position  on  the  banks  of  that 
river.  There  in  1846  the  Mexicans  attacked  Taylor  and  were 
beaten.  War  with  Mexico  followed  at  once.  Our  armies 
were  commanded  by  Generals  Scott,  Taylor,  and  Kearny,  and 
in  the  course  of  the  war  did  some  wonderful  fighting  and 
marching.  Taylor  beat  the  enemy  in  battle  after  battle  near 
the  Rio  Grande.  Scott  marched  from  the  seacoast  across  the 
enemy's  country  to  the  city  of  Mexico  and  captured  it,  having 


War  with 
Mexico 


SLAVERY  QUESTION  BEGINS   TO   MAKE   TROUBLE 


181 


won  many  victories  on  the 
way.  Kearny  marched 
from  Fort  Leavenworth 
on  the  Missouri  River  to 
Santa  Fe  in  New  Mexico, 
a  distance  of  eight  hun- 
dred miles,  captured  the 
city,  and  then  went  on 
across  the  continent  to 
California.  There  he 
found  that  Commodore 
Stockton  and  Captain 
Fremont  had  already  con- 
quered California. 

When  peace  was  made 
in  1848,  we  held  the  territory  thus  acquired  and  paid  Mexico  Terms  of 
-115,000,000,   besides    paying    claims    of    our    citizens    against  peace 
Mexico  to  the  amount  of  $3,500,000.      Our  country  then  had 
the  shape  shown  in  the  first  map  on  page  234. 


The  hill  castle  of  Chapultepec 

{The  Americans  under  Scott  carried  Chapultepec  by 

storm,  in  order  to  capture  Mexico  city) 


SUMMARY 

1.  Before  the  War  for  Independence  slavery  existed  in    all  the  colonies. 

After  it  some  of  the  states  abolished  slavery.  Others  would  have  done 
so  had  it  not  been  for  the  cotton  gin  invented  by  Whitney.  This  made 
slaves  more  profitable  in  the  cotton-growing  states. 

2.  East  of  the  Mississippi,  slavery  was  allowed  in  the  new  states  south  of  the 

Ohio,  but  was  forbidden  in  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio.  When 
Missouri  applied  for  admission  into  the  Union,  the  question  of  slavery 
west  of  the  Mississippi  was  discussed  and  finally  settled  by  the  Com- 
promise of  1820. 

3.  About  the  time  Maine  and  Missouri  were  admitted  we  bought  Florida 

from  Spain  and  agreed  with  her  as  to  the  boundary  between  Mexico 
(which  then  included  Texas)  and  the  United  States. 

MOM.   PR.   II.  — 12 


182 


DISCOVERY  OF   GOLD  AND  THE   CONSEQUENCES 


4. 


5. 


6. 


Mexico  soon  became  free  from  Spain.  Many  American  settlers  went  to 
Texas  with  their  slaves,  but  would  not  live  under  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment, and  so  made  Texas  an  independent  republic. 

The  Texans  wished  to  be  annexed  to  the  United  States.  This  was 
opposed  for  some  time  by  those  who  were  opposed  to  slavery,  but  in 
1845  Texas  was  made  a  state  in  the  Union. 

The  northern  boundaries  of  Maine  and  Oregon  were  fixed  in  1842  and 
1846,  thus  peaceably  settling  two  long  disputes  with  Great  Britain. 

A  dispute  as  to  the  southeast  boundary  brought  on  a  war  with  Mexico. 

As  one  result  of  the  Mexican  War  we  acquired  an  immense  piece  of  ter- 
ritory stretching  from  the  upper  Rio  Grande  to  the  Pacific. 


:>XK< 


CHAPTER   XIX 


THE   DISCOVERY  OF   GOLD   AND    THE    CONSEQUENCES 


Captain 
Sutter 


A  PART  of  the  vast  region  acquired  from  Mexico  was  called 
California,  and  in  this  country,  near  the  Sacramento  River, 
lived  Captain  J.  A.  Sutter,  a  Swiss  settler.  He  had  obtained 
from  the  Mexican  governor  of  California  a  great  tract  of  land 
and  on  it  had  built  a  fort. 

Sutter's  Fort,  as  it  was  called,  stood  at  the  junction  of  the 

American  and  Sacramento  rivers,  on  the  site  of   the  present 

y 


Sutter's  Fort  about  1850 


DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD   AND   THE   CONSEQUENCES 


183 


city  of    Sacramento.       In  it  Sutter  lived  like    a   little  king. 

of  cattle,  thousands  of 
mules.     In  his 
and  around  his 
Americans. 


Over   his   domain   roamed   thousands 
sheep,   and  thousands   of  horses    and 
employ  were    hundreds   of  laborers, 
fort    were    settled    a    number    of 
As  Sutter  used  a  great  deal  of 
employed  a  man  named  Marshall 


lumber,       he   Sutter's 


mill 


Sutter's  mill 


sawmill  for  him  at  a  place  called  Coloma,  some  fifty  miles  away. 
The  saws  were  to  be  moved  by  a  water  wheel.  But  when  the 
wheel  was  finished  and  the  water  turned  on,  it  was  found  that 
the  ditch  to  carry  off  the  water  was  too  small.  To  make  it 
larger,  water  was  washed 
through  it,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence a  bed  of  mud  and 
gravel  was  formed  at  the  end 
of  the  ditch. 

One  day  in  January,  1848, 
as   Marshall    looked   at   this 

bed   of    gravel    he    Saw   in    it  Part  of  California 


^        vtc        %}           /       '-ft 

San  Francisco^                                scale  OF  miles                 ! 

Gold 

"^       °       {     \                h                     b'°     ■               l6° 

discovered 

184 


DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD   AND   THE   CONSEQUENCES 


Sutter's  Fort  as  it  is  now 


The  rush  to 
the  gold  fields 


Digging  and 
washing  gold 


some  glitter-  .  ing  particles,  which  he  picked  up,  examined, 
and  believed  /  were  gold.  Gathering  more,  he  carried  them 
to  Sutter,  who  easily  proved  that  gold 
--^     they  were. 

To  keep  the  discovery  secret 
was    impossible.       Sutter    and 
Marshall    acted    so    strangely 
that  a  workman  watched  them  and 
found   some    gold   himself.      Then 
the  news  spread  fast.     Everybody 
that  could,  dropped  work  and  rushed  to  the  gold  fields. 

Laborers  left  their  fields,  tradesmen  their  shops,  and  sail- 
ors their  ships  as  fast  as  they  arrived  on  the  coast.  One  of  the 
San  Francisco  newspapers  ceased  to  appear  because  the  editor, 
the  typesetters,  and  the  printer's  devils  had  gone  to  the  gold 
fields.  Another  journal  had  the  same  experience  a  few  weeks 
later,  and  California  was  without  a  newspaper.  The  . 
publisher  of  one  of  these  papers  stated  that  while 
traveling  through  the  gold  fields 
to  see  the  sights  he  gathered 
without  the  aid  of  a  shovel, 
pick,  and  pan,  from  forty-four  0) 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  dollars  a  day  in  gold. 

At  the  diggings  the  hill- 
sides were  dotted  with  can- 
vas   tents    and    bush    arbors      & 
that  served  as  houses  for  the 
miners.    The  gold  was  obtained    .; 
by  washing.     Some  men  worked 
with   tin   pans,   some  with  close 
woven  Indian  baskets,  but  the  greater  Washing  gold 


DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD   AND    THE   CONSEQUENCES 


185 


part  had  a  rude  machine  known  as  a  cradle.  This  was  a  box 
six  or  eight  feet  long,  on  rockers.  It  was  open  at  the  foot,  and 
at  its  head  had  a  coarse  grate.  Four  men  were  usually  required 
to  work  the  machine  ;  one  dug  the  ground,  another  carried  it 
to  the  cradle  and  emptied  it  on  the  grate,  a  third  gave  a  violent 
rocking  motion  to  the  cradle,  while  a  fourth  dashed  on  water 
from  a  stream. 

By  November,  1848,  reports  from  California  had  reached  the  Gold  seekers 
East  and  set  people  crazy.     It  was  then  too  late  to  go  overland  from  the  East 
to  the  gold  fields.     But  before  February,  1819,  more  than  a 


Prairie  schooner 

hundred  ships  with  thousands  of  "  Argonauts,"  as  the  gold 
seekers  were  called,  had  started  for  California.  Some  went  to 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  which  the  gold  hunters  crossed,  and 
took  ships  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Others  sailed  around  South 
America. 

When  spring  came,  thousands  of  men  were  hurrying  to  Mis-  The  overland 
souri  to  make  the  journey  from  there  across  the  plains.      Com-  ^lifornia 
ing  from  all  parts  of  the   country,  these  men  would  usually 
assemble  at  Independence  on  the  Missouri  River,  where  they 
would  "fit  out"  ;  that  is,  they  would  buy  food,  guns,  ammuni- 
tion,   oxen,    canvas-covered   wagons    (prairie    schooners),   and 


186  DISCOVERY  OF   GOLD   AND   THE   CONSEQUENCES 

whatever  else  was  necessary,  and  would  make  up  parties  for 
defense  against  the  Indians.  The  road  was  up  the  valley  of 
the  Platte  and  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Sierra  Nevada 
in  California.  The  suffering,  both  of  man  and  beast,  was  ter- 
rible ;  for  on  the  wide,  dry,  sun-baked  plains  there  was  neither 
food,  water,  nor  trees.  Hunger  and  thirst  caused  the  death  of 
hundreds,  and  along  the  route  for  many  years  might  be  seen 
the  skeletons  of  horses  and  oxen  and  the  wrecks  of  wagons  that 
had  broken  down  on  the  way.  Yet  no  danger,  no  suffering,  no 
fear  of  hostile  Indians,  could  stop  the  emigrants.  They  went 
by  thousands,  and  California  by  1849  had  a  population  so  great 
that  the  people  formed  a  state  government  and  applied  for 
admission  into  the  Union. 
The  slavery  In  the  newly  made  state  constitution  of  California  slavery 
California11  was  forbidden  ;  and  this  was  a  serious  matter,  for  just  then  the 
whole  question  of  slavery  was  before  Congress  and  the  country. 
The  annexation  of  the  slave  state  of  Texas  and  the  purchase  of 
more  territory  brought  it  up  in  a  new  form.  Hitherto  the 
question  was,  Shall  slavery  be  abolished  ?  Now  it  became, 
Shall  slavery  be  extended  ?  Shall  it  be  allowed  in  the  country 
purchased  from  Mexico  ?  As  this  land  had  been  made  free 
soil  by  Mexico,  many  people  in  the  North  insisted  that  it  should 
remain  free,  and  formed  a  political  party  called  the  Free  Soil 
Party,  pledged  to  prevent  the  spread  of  slavery.  "  No  more 
slave  states  "  was  their  cry.  The  South  insisted  that  the  newly 
acquired  country  was  the  common  property  of  the  states,  that 
any  citizen  might  go  there  with  his  slaves,  and  that  Congress 
had  no  right  to  prevent  him.  Besides  this,  the  South  insisted 
that  there  ought  to  be  at  least  as  many  slave  states  as  free 
states.  Since  the  admission  of  Florida  and  Texas  the  two  free 
states  of  Iowa  and  Wisconsin  had  been  added,  so  that  now  the 
numbers   were    equal — fifteen   slave   states  and   fifteen   free. 


DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD   AND   THE    CONSEQUENCES  187 

Some  threats  were  made  that  the  slaveholding  states  would 
leave  the  Union  if  Congress  sought  to  shut  out  slavery  in  the 
territory  gained  from  Mexico. 

That  a  state  might  secede,  or  withdraw  from  the  Union,  had  The  question 
long  been  claimed  by  a  party  led  by  John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  °  secessi0n 
Carolina.  Daniel  Webster  had  always  opposed  this  doctrine 
and  stood  as  the  representative  of 
those  who  held  that  our  Union 
can  not  be  broken.  Once  (in  l|ig|ft  -,i-'^-5f  ^ff 
1832)  South  Carolina  went  so  ^^^jjflY.^lll^l^W^ro 
far  as  to  nullify  a  certain  tax 
law  of  the  United  States  ;  that 
is,  she  refused  to  allow  this  law  Webster's  home  (in  Massa<*»s*«s) 
to  be  enforced  on  her  soil,  and  she  threatened  to  secede  if  the 
government  used  force  against  her.  On  that  occasion  a  very 
famous  debate  took  place  in  the  Senate  between  Webster  and 
Calhoun  on  this  very  question  of  secession.  The  dispute  was 
finally  settled  by  a  compromise,  largely  through  the  influence 
of  Henry  Clay ;  South  Carolina  gave  up  her  attempt  to  nullify 
the  law,  but  Congress  made  important  changes  in  the  law. 

Now  in  1850  Clay  undertook  to  end  this  latest  quarrel  TheCompro- 
between  the  states,  as  he  had  that  over  Missouri  (in  1820),  miseofl85° 
and  that  with  South  Carolina  (in  1833).  Again  a  great  debate 
occurred,  in  which  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  Clay  (the  most  dis- 
tinguished senators  then  living)  took  part,  and  once  more  a 
compromise  resulted.  We  need  not  learn  all  its  details.  It  is 
enough  to  know  that,  as  part  of  it,  — 

1.  California  was  admitted  as  a  free  state. 

2.  Texas  received  her  present  boundary,  giving  up  her  claim 

to  the  land  now  lying  between  the  state  of  Texas  and  the 
Rio  Grande. 


188 


DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD   AND   THE    CONSEQUENCES 


Out  of  part  of  the  country  bought  from  Mexico  were  made 
two  territories  —  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  in  which  slavery 
was  not  prohibited. 


The  Mormons 


Migrations  of 
the  Mormons 


Guidepost 


In  New  Mexico  were  some  old  Spanish  settlements  founded 
long  before  an  English  colony  was  planted  in  our  country,  and 
the  curious  Indian  villages  or  pueblos  of  the  Zulii. 

In  Utah  were  the  Mormons.  Twenty  years  before,  a  man 
named  Joseph  Smith  founded  in  New  York  state  a  new  reli- 
gious sect.  The  members  of  this  sect  were  commonly  called 
Mormons  because  of  their  new  "  Book  of  Mormon,"  which  they 
believed  to  be  as  holy  as  the  Bible. 

From  New  York  they  went  in  time  to  Ohio,  then  to  Missouri, 
and  then  to  a  little  town  which  they  built  in  Illinois  on  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  River.  There  they  came  to  blows  with 
the  state  officers,  and  in  1846  the  Mormon  leaders  decided  to 
move  their  people  out  of  the  United  States  and  into  Mexico. 
The  plan  was  not  to  go  in  one  great  body,  but  in  a  series  of 


parties,  and 
to  select  the 
to  mark  the 
plains 


Mormon  guidepost 

Others  would 


as    the    first    of   these    crossed   the    plains 

site  for  a  new  city,  it  used  curious  methods 

way  for    those   that    came    after.      The 

in  those  days  were  dotted  with  buffalo 

skulls  bleached  by  long  exposure  to 

the  sun  and  air.    Taking  one  of  these 

from    time  to  time,   the  leader 

would  paint  across  the  skull 

the  date  and  the  number  of 

miles  made,  and  set  it  up  as 

a  guidepost   or  marker  of   a 

be  hung  on   the  branches   of 


camping  place. 

trees  and .  filled  with  letters  to  the  members  of  the  party  next 

to  follow. 


DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD    AND   THE   CONSEQUENCES 


189 


After  three  months  of  hard  and  wearisome  travel,  this  band  salt  Lake  city 
of   pioneers    climbed  over  a  big  mountain  and  beheld   below 
them  the  broad  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.     Going  down 


j 


Mormon  houses  in  the  desert 


into  it,  they  took  possession,  and  some  ten  miles  from  the  shore 
of  the  lake  made  the  beginning  of  Salt  Lake  City.  Later 
in  the  year  (1847),  several  thousand  people  arrived,  and  still 
more  in  1848.  When  the  Mormons  entered  Utah,  the  country 
belonged  to  Mexico,  but  finding  themselves  again  within  the 
United  States  as  a  result  of  the  Mexican  War,  they  formed 
the  state  of  Deseret,  and  (1849)  asked  for  its  admission  into 
the  Union.  The  request  was  not  granted,  and  for  many  years 
this  part  of  our  country  remained  the  territory  of  Utah. 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  Mexican  War  was  scarcely  ended  when  news  reached  the  East  that 

gold  had  been  discovered  in  California. 

2.  A  great  rush  of  gold  hunters  followed.    Some  sailed  around  South  America, 

or  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.     Many  went  overland. 

3.  In  California  sailors  left  their  ships,  laborers  and  tradesmen  dropped 

work,  and  all  hurried  to  the  gold  fields. 

4.  Men  came  in  such  numbers  that  in  1849  a  state  government  was  estab- 

lished and  Congress  was  asked  to  admit  California  as  a  state. 

5.  A  dispute  broke  out  as  to  whether  it  should  be  a  free  or  a  slave  state. 

It  was  finally  made  as  a  free  state  under  Clay's  Compromise  of  1850. 


190         THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION  BRINGS   ON   CIVIL   WAR 

CHAPTER   XX 

THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION  BRINGS   ON   CIVIL    WAR 

The  Compromise  of  1850,  as  it  was  called, 

was  supposed  by  those  who  made  it  to  be  a 

final  settlement  of  all  the  troubles 

growing  out  of  slavery.     But  when 

Kansas  and  Nebraska  were  made 

territories  (1854),  the  old  quarrel 
Cannon  used  in  forts  during  the  ■.  AT      ,,  ,     c,       .,     ,       , 

Civil  War  between  North  and   South  broke 

out  anew. 
The  Missouri         You  will  remember  that  by  the  Compromise  of  1820  (page 

re  wleT186     176)'  there  WaS   t0   be   n°    slaveiT  in    a11    tliat    Part    of    the    old 

Louisiana  territory  north  of  36°  30',  except  in  Missouri.  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska  were  in  this  free  part  of  the  old  Louisiana.  But 
Congress,  under  the  lead  of  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of 
Illinois,  now  repealed  the  Compromise  of  1820  and  opened  these 
territories  to  slavery.     The  effects  of  this  law  (1854)  were  :  — 

1.  That  any  man  might  emigrate  to  Kansas  or  Nebraska  with 

his  slaves  and  live  there  and  not  have  them  set  free. 

2.  When  the  time  came  to  admit  Kansas  or  Nebraska  into  the 

Union  as  a  state,  the  people  were  to  decide  whether  it 
should  be  a  free  or  a  slaveholding  state. 

3.  Whether  Kansas  and  Nebraska  should  finally  become  slave- 

holding  or  free  states  depended,  therefore,  on  whether  the 
slaveholders  or  the  settlers  opposed  to  slavery  were  the 
more  numerous. 

The  struggle         Both  sides  now  made  great    efforts  to   settle    and  control 
for  Kansas     Kansas.     People  pledged  to  make  Kansas  a  free  state  hurried 


THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION  BRINGS   ON   CIVIL   WAR  191 


in  from  the  North  and  settled  at  Lawrence,  Topeka,  and  else- 
where.   Immi-  grants  pledged  to  make  Kansas  a  slave  state 


Musket  used  during  the  Civil  War 

came  in  from  Missouri  and  the  South  and  founded  Atchison, 
Lecompton,  Leavenworth,  and  other  towns.  The  struggle  that 
followed  was  dreadful.  Lawrence  was  plundered  and  burned, 
men  were  murdered,  and  during  several  years  a  civil  war  raged 
in  Kansas.  Lawless  bands  of  both  parties,  called  Jayhawkers, 
roamed  about  the  country,  and  when  they  met,  fought.  One 
who  lived  in  Kansas  during  this  time  tells  us  that  farming  was 
almost  neglected  ;  that  men  went  out  to  till  the  soil  in  bands 
of  ten  or  twelve  fully  armed,  and  that  whenever  two  strangers 
met  they  came  up  pistol  in  hand  ;  that  their  first  salutation 
was,  "  Free-state  or  pro-slave  ?  "  and  that  often  the  next  sound 
was  the  report  of  a  pistol. 

As  the  people  north  and  south  watched  this  civil  war  in 
Kansas,  the  feeling  of  the  two  sections  grew  more  and  more 
intense  and  bitter. 

In  the  midst  of  this  excitement  over  Kansas  the  time  came  Lincoin- 
to  elect  a  senator  for  Illinois  to  re-    A^  debate8 

place  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  the 
question  arose,  Shall  he  be  re- 
elected, or  shall  some  other  man 
be  chosen  in  place  of  him  ?  Mr. 
Douglas,  you  remember,  had  secured 
the  passage  of  the  law  creating  the 
two  territories  of  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska, which  allowed  anybody  to 
take  slaves  into  those  territories. 
The  Republicans,  whose  motto  was 


in  use  during 
the  Civil  War 


192         THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION   BRINGS   ON   CIVIL   WAR 


Abraham  Lincoln 

"No  more  slave  states,  no  more  slave  territories,"  wanted 
Douglas  defeated,  and  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  sena- 
tor. The  Democrats  nominated  Mr.  Douglas,  and  during  the 
autumn  of  1858  these  two  candidates  traveled  over  the  state 
of  Illinois,  discussing  the  question  of  slavery  from  the  same 
platform  night  after  night.  This  Lincoln-Douglas  debate 
created  great  interest.  In  the  end  Douglas  was  reelected,  but 
fo^pJe^dent  Lincoln  became  so  famous  that  in  1860  the  Republicans  nomi- 
im86o  nated  him  for  President  of  the  United  States.     The  Democrats 


THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION   BRINGS   ON   CIVIL   WAR  193 

were  divided  ;  one  part  nominated  Douglas,  and  the  other  Mr. 
John  C.  Breckinridge.     A  fourth  party,  whose  motto  was  to 
save  the  Union  at  any  cost,  put  forward  John  Bell. 
The  Presidents  since  Van  Buren  had  been  :  — 


Millard  Fillmore  .  .  1850-1853 
Franklin  Pierce  .  .  1853-1857 
James  Buchanan     .         .     1857-1861 


William  H.  Harrison  .  1841 

John  Tyler       .         .  .  1841-1815 

James  K.Polk         .  .  1845-1849 

Zachary  Taylor        .  .  1849-1850 

The  last  two  of  these  Presidents  were  Democrats  and  had  secession  of 
not  opposed  slavery.  The  Southern  States  now  (1860)  said  l™^™ 
that  if  Lincoln  were  elected,  slavery  would  be  destroyed,  and 
that  rather  than  have  this  happen  they  would  leave  the  Union. 
When,  therefore,  Lincoln  was  elected,  they  began  one  by  one  to 
secede,  that  is,  declared  that  they  were  no  longer  members  of 
the  Union  known  as  the  United  States  of  America. 

First  went  South  Carolina,  and  then  Georgia,  Florida,  Ala- 
bama, Mississippi,  and  Louisiana.  Delegates  from  these  six 
states  next  met  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  and  formed  a  new 
union  which  they  called  the  "  Confederate  States  of  America." 
Jefferson  Davis  was  elected 
its  President,  and  Alexander 
H.  Stephens  its  Vice  Presi- 
dent. And  now  Texas 
joined  the  Confederacy. 

When      South      Carolina  „  1  „     ' 

.  Fort  Sumter 

seceded,    there    was    within 

her  bounds   much   property  belonging  to  the  United  States.  Forts,  etc. 
There  were  lighthouses,  courthouses,  post  offices,  customhouses  Jf  South 
where  duties  on  imported  goods  were  collected,  and  two  impor- 
tant forts,  Moultrie  and  Sumter,  which  guarded  the  entrance  to 
Charleston  harbor,  and  were  held  by  a  small  band  of  United 
States  troops  under  the  command  of  Major  Robert  Anderson. 


194         THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION   BRINGS   ON   CIVIL   WAR 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Charleston  Harbor 


What 
Anderson  did 


Fort  Sumter 
attacked  by 
Confederates 


As  soon  as  the  state  seceded,  a  demand  was  made  on  the 
United  States  for  a  surrender  of  this  property.  The  partner- 
ship called  the  Union,  it  was  said,  having  been  dissolved  by  the 

withdrawal  of  South  Carolina, 
the  land  on  which  these  forts, 
arsenals,  magazines,  and  build- 
ings stood  belonged  to  the 
state  ;  but  the  buildings  being 
the  property  of  the  United  States 
should  be  paid  for  by  the  state. 
Agents  were  accordingly  sent  to 
Washington  to  arrange  for  the 
purchase. 

Troops,  meantime,  were  being 
enlisted  and  drilled,  and  Major  Anderson,  fearing  that  if  the 
agents  sent  to  Washington  did  not  succeed,  the  forts  would  be 
taken  by  force,  cut  down  the  flagstaff  and  spiked  the  guns  in 
Fort  Moultrie,  and  moved  his  men  to  Fort  Sumter,  which  stood 
on  an  island  in  the  harbor,  and  could  be  more  easily  defended  ; 
and  so  the  matter  stood  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated, 
March  4,  1861. 

Fort  Sumter  was  now  in  a  state  of  siege, 
his  men  could  get  no 
food  from  Charleston, 
while  the  troops  of 
the  Confederacy  had 
planted  cannon  with 
which  they  could  at  any 
time  fire  on  the  fort. 
Either  the  troops  must 
very  soon  go  away  or 
food    must    be    sent    to  Part  of  Fort  Sumter  after  bombardment 


Anderson  and 


j*fc— ;;•  gSM? 


liillll 


WAR  FOR  THE  UNION  ON  THE  LAND  195 

them.  Mr.  Lincoln  decided  to  send  food.  But  when  the  ves- 
sels with  food,  men,  and  supplies  reached  Charleston  they  found 
that  the  Confederates  had  already  begun  to  fire  on  Sumter. 
What  then  happened  is  best  told  by  Major  Anderson  :  "  Hav- 
ing defended  Fort  Sumter  for  thirty-four  hours,  until  the  quar- 
ters were  entirely  burned,  the  main  gates  destroyed  by  fire,  the 
gorge  walls  seriously  injured,  the  magazine  surrounded  by 
flames,  and  its  door  closed  from  the  effects  of  heat,  four  barrels 
and  three  cartridges  of  powder  only  being  available,  and  no 
provisions  remaining  but  pork,  I  accepted  terms  of  evacuation  Fortsumter 
offered  by  General  Beauregard  .  .  .  and  marched  out  of  the  surrendered 
fort  Sunday  afternoon,  the  14th  instant,  with  colors  flying  and 
drums  beating.   ..." 

SUMMARY 

1.  A  law  was  passed  (1854)  establishing  the  two  territories  of  Kansas  and 

Nebraska,  and  repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

2.  The  law  provided  that  when  these  territories  became  states,  their  people 

should  decide  whether  or  not  the  new  states  should  be  free  soil.     The 
result  was  a  bloody  struggle  for  the  possession  of  Kansas. 

3.  After  Lincoln  was  elected  President  (1860),  seven  of  the  Southern  States 

seceded  from  the  Union  and  formed  a  new  Confederacy. 

4.  A  dispute  over  the  possession  of  the  forts  in  Charleston  Harbor  led  to  a 

successful  attack  by  the  Confederates  on  Fort  Sumter. 

CHAPTER   XXI 

THE   WAR   FOR   THE   UNION  ON  THE   LAND 

The  moment  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Sumter  reached  the 
North,  the  people  knew  that  all  hope  of  a  peaceable  settlement 
of  the  dispute  with  the  South  was  gone.     Mr.  Lincoln  at  once 


196 


WAR  FOR  THE  UNION  ON  THE  LAND 


L     FtuJor^O     F         MEXICO 


The  Confederate  States 


President  calls  called  for  75,000  soldiers  to  serve  for  three  months.     Some  of 

for  troops  ^  ^^  q£  thig  were 


1.  The  secession  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and 

Arkansas,  making  eleven  states  in  the  Confederacy. 

2.  The  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  of  the  Confederacy 

from  Montgomery  in  Alabama  to  Richmond  in  Virginia. 

3.  The  separation  of  the  western  part  of  Virginia  from   the 

eastern  part.      Out   of  this  was  afterwards   formed  the 
state  of  West  Virginia. 

4.  The  gathering  of  the  Union  army  along  Chesapeake  Bay  and 

the  Potomac  River,  around  Washington,  along  the  Ohio 
River,  and  in  Missouri. 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON  THE   LAND 


197 


5.    The  gathering  of  a  Confederate  army  to  oppose  the  Union 
army. 


There  were  thus  two  great  armies  drawn  up  in  various  places 
on  opposite  sides  of  a  line  stretching  from  near  the  mouth  of 
James  River  in  Virginia  up  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  Potomac 
River  to  Harpers  Ferry,  then  along  the  mountains  to  western 
Virginia,  and  then  westward  through  Kentucky  and  Missouri. 
To  break  through  this  line  and  drive  the  Confederate  forces 
back  was  the  aim  of  the  Union  commanders. 

Just  southwest  of  Washington,  and  between  it  and  Rich-  BuiiRun 
mond,  was  a  Confederate  force,  and  with  this,  in  July,  1861,  a 
Union  army  fought  the  famous  battle  of  Bull  Run.     The  Union 
soldiers  were  defeated  and  put  to  flight. 

General  McClellan  was  now  placed  in  command  of  the  Union  Forts 
troops  near  Washington,  and  while  he  was  drilling  them  an  ^oneiso^ 
attempt  was  made  to 
break  through  the 
Confederate  line  west 
of  Virginia.  Where 
the  line  crossed  the 
Cumberland  and  Ten- 
nessee rivers,  just 
south  of  Kentucky, 
were  two  forts  called 
Donelson  and  Henry. 
Against  these  two 
forts  General  Ulysses 

S.  Grant  advanced  with  an  army,  and  Flag  Officer  Foote  with 
a  fleet. 

Grant  was  born  in  a  little  town  in  Ohio,  at  a  time  when 
that  part  of  our  country  was  very  near  the  frontier.      While  a 

MCM.    PR.    H.  13 


Part  of  the  battlefield  of  Bull  Run 


I 


198 


WAR   FOR  THE   UNION  ON  THE  LAND 


Ulysses  S. 
Grant 


Battles  in 
Tennessee 


Opening  the 
Mississippi 


boy  he  did  much  hard  work  on  his  father's  farm,  besides  going 
to  school  a  few  weeks  each  winter.  When  he  was  seventeen 
he  became  a  cadet  in  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  and 
during  the  Mexican  War  he  served  under  General  Taylor  and 
then  under  General  Scott.  A  few  years  after  the  war  he  left 
the  army  and  went  to  live  on  a  farm  near  St.  Louis  ;  and  the 
log  cabin  in  which  he  lived  he  built  with  his  own  hands.  But 
he  did  not  succeed  very  well  as  a  farmer,  so  he  went  to  St. 
Louis  and  became  a  real  estate  agent.  This  venture  also  failed, 
and  he  became  a  clerk  in  his  father's  leather  and  hardware  store 
in  Illinois.  There  he  was  when  Lincoln  made  the  first  call  for 
troops  to  defend  the  Union. 

Grant  at  once  offered  his  services  and  showed  himself  so 
able  a  soldier  that  early  in  1862  he  was  sent  with  Flag  Officer 
Foote  to  make  the  attack  on  the  Confederate  Forts  Henry  and 

Donelson.  The  attempt 
was  successful.  Foote 
took  Fort  Henry,  and 
Grant  took  Fort  Donel- 
son ;  and  the  Confederate 
line  was  cut  in  two.  The 
Southern  troops  retreated 
southward  to  a  place 
called  Corinth,  in  Missis- 
sippi. Grant  followed, 
and  in  April,  1862,  was 
attacked  at  Shiloh.  The 
fight  raged  for  two  days, 
when  the  Confederates  fell  back  again  to  Corinth,  and  a  few 
weeks  later  they  retreated  still  farther. 

Memphis  now  surrendered,  and  the  Mississippi  River  was 
opened  as  far  south  as  Vicksburg.      It  was  also  opened  near 


Confederate  Capitol,  Richmond 


WAR   FOR   THE    UNION   ON   THE    LAND 


199 


the  Gulf ;  for  in  April,  1862,  a  fleet  under  Flag  Officer  Farragut 
forced  its  way  up  the  Mississippi,  passing  the  Confederate  forts 
near  its  mouth,  captured 


New  Orleans,  and  landed 
an  army  to  hold  the  city. 

Now  let  us  see  what 
had  happened  in  the  East 
inl862.  As  Richmond  was 
the  capital  of  the  Confed- 
erate States,  the  North 
insisted  that  it  should  be 
captured,  and  early  in 
1862  preparations  were 
made  to  attack  it.  One 
army  was  sent  into  the 
Shenandoah  valley  in 
western  Virginia  to  pre- 
vent the  Confederates 
from  coming  down  that 
valley  to  attack  Washing- 
ton from  the  west.  An- 
other was  stationed  in  front  of  Washington  to  prevent  an  attack 
from  the  south.  A  third,  under  McClellan,  was  taken  in  ships  Peninsular 
down  Chesapeake  Bay  to  a  point  near  famous  old  Yorktown,  CamPaisn 
where  General  Cornwallis  surrendered  to  Washington  in  1781. 
After  capturing  this  place  McClellan  advanced  up  the  peninsula 
between  the  York  and  James  rivers,  fighting  as  he  went,  till  he 
came  to  a  place  called  White  House  Landing,  whence  he  moved 
westward  toward  Richmond. 

But  McClellan  was  forced  back  by  General  R.  E.  Lee  to 
a  place  on  the  James  River,  whence  his  army  was  taken  by  boat 
to  the  Potomac  River  near  Washington. 


SCALE  OF  MILES 
. 0     10    20    .30     40     50 


Country  around  Washington 


200 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON   THE   LAND 


Lee's  home,  at  Arlington 


Robert  E. 
Lee 


Lee  was  a  native  of 
Virginia,  had  been  edu- 
cated at  West  Point,  and 
down  to  the  time  when 
Virginia  seceded  had 
been  an  officer  in  the 
army  of  the  United 
States.  He  had  served 
on  the  frontier  and  in 
the  war  with  Mexico, 
had  been  for  three  years 
at  the  head  of  the  Mili- 
tary Academy  at  West  Point,  and  was  a  soldier  of  great  ability. 
Just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  Lee,  who  was  then  a  colonel 
serving  in  Texas,  was  called  to  Washington ;  and  after  the 
attack  on  Sumter  he  was  offered  the  command  of  the  Union 
troops.  But  Virginia  at  once  seceded,  and  Lee  resigned  his 
place  in  the  army  of  the  United  States  and  was  put  in  com- 
mand of  the  troops  of  Virginia.  Soon  afterwards  he  was  made 
a  Confederate  general,  but  it  was  not  till  McClellan  was  mov- 
ing upon  Richmond  that  Lee  was  given  command  of  a  large 
army.  The  Confederate  general  who  at  first  was  pitted  against 
McClellan  (General  Joseph  E.  Johnston)  was  wounded  in  the 
fighting  near  Richmond,  and  then  Lee  took  command  of  the 
Confederate  army  and  forced  McClellan  back. 

When  McClellan  sailed  away,  Lee  attacked  the  Union  army 
that  had  been  stationed  in  front  of  Washington,  beat  it  in  a 
second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  crossing  the  Potomac  entered 
Maryland.  McClellan  gave  chase,  overtook  Lee,  and  fought  a 
Antietam  desperate  battle  at  Antietam  Creek,  after  which  Lee  returned 
to  Virginia.  McClellan  was  now  removed  from  command  and 
General  Burnside  was  put  in  his  place.     But  before  the  year 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON  THE   LAND 


201 


ended  Burnside  was  badly  beaten  in  an  attack  on  Fredericks-  Battles  in 
burg,    and    a    few   weeks    later    General    Hooker   was    given  Virgima 
command. 

"Fighting  Joe,"  as  Hooker  was  called,  took  the  field  in  the 
spring  of  1863,  led  his  army  against  Lee,  and  was  beaten  at 
Chancellorsville.  Lee  now  repeated  his  attempt  of  the  pre- 
vious summer  :  he  rushed  around  Hooker,  crossed  the  Potomac, 
crossed  Maryland,  and  marched  into  Pennsylvania  as  far  as 
Gettysburg.  As  the  Union  army  hurried  along  in  pursuit,  Gettysburg 
General  Meade  was  put  in  command  in  place  of  Hooker.  At 
Gettysburg,  on  July  1,  2,  and  3,  1863,  was  fought  the  great 
and  decisive  battle  of  the  war.  The  fighting  was  desperate. 
The  loss  on  each  side  was  terrible.  But  Lee  was  beaten  and 
went  back  to  Virginia ;  and  in  the  East  no  more  great  battles 
were  fought  till  the  following  spring. 


Tm$tikitor~zSHL 

,- 

jj||feyp~i*' 

WQJmm 

^^■R^V    - 

IsS 

Kr^'%E~i 

Battlefield  of  Gettysburg 

The  field  of  Gettysburg  is  now  dotted  over  with  beautiful 
monuments  marking  the  positions  held  by  the  Union  regi- 
ments during  this   greatest  battle  of  the  war.      On  the  hill 


202 


WAK  FOR  THE   UNION  ON  THE  LAND 


The 

Mississippi 

opened 


behind  the  village,  on  a  part  of  the  field  fought  over,  is  a 
national  cemetery  where  lie  buried  more  than  3500  Union  dead. 
On  July  4,  1863,  the  day  after  the  end  of  the  battle  of  Get- 
tysburg, General  Grant  captured  Vicksburg.  Fort  Hudson 
next  fell ;  the  Mississippi  was  all  in  Union  hands  and  the  Con- 
federacy was  cut  in  two. 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  the  Confederates  to  win  a  victory. 

An  army  of   them  had  been  driven  from  Tennessee  into  the 

extreme   northwest    corner  of    Georgia,  where    they  were  en- 

chickamauga  camped  near  a  little  creek  called  the  Chickamauga.     Having 

received  more  troops,  General  Bragg,  who  com- 
manded them,  attacked  the  Union 
army   under    General    Rose- 
crans  (September  19  and  20) 
and  beat  it  so  badly  that  it 
would  have  been  put  to  flight 
had  it  not  been  for  the  skill 
of  General  George  H.  Thomas. 
His    firmness  on  that  disas- 
trous field  won  him  the  name  of 
the    Rock   of   Chickamauga.     The 
Union  army,  however,  was  forced 
to  retreat  to  Chattanooga,  in  Tennessee  ;    and   then   General 
Bragg  posted  his  troops  on  the  hills  and  mountains  about  the 
town,  and  shut  in  General  Rosecrans. 

More  troops  were  now  sent  and  General  Grant  was  put  in 
chattaLog"  command,  and  then  the  situation  changed.  The  Confederates 
were  attacked  and  driven  from  their  positions,  in  three  days 
of  fighting.  As  the  second  day  was  cold  and  rainy,  the  clouds 
had  settled  down  on  the  mountain  sides  so  that  fighting  actually 
occurred  above  them,  and  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain  is 
often   called  the   Battle  above  the   Clouds.     After  the  great 


Lookout  Mountain 


Th 


WAR  FOR   THE   UNION   ON   THE    LAND 


203 


Sherman  did 


battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  on  the  third  day,  the   Confeder- 
ates retreated  to  Georgia,  and  the  command  of  their 
army  was  given  to  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 

The  Confederates  had  now  but  two  great  The  union 
armies  in  the  held,  —  the  one  under  Lee  in  plan  in  l864 
Virginia,  and   the  other   under    Johnston    in 
northern  Georgia.     To  meet  these,  two  Union 
generals  were  selected.      General  Grant  was 
put  at  the  head  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United 
States,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  General, 
and  to  him  was  assigned  the  duty  of  beating 
Lee.       General  W.  T.  Sherman  was  given  a 
large  army  in  the  West,  and  his  duty  was  to 
crush  the  forces  of  General  Johnston. 

Each  began  his  task  on  the  same  day,  May  what 
4,  1864.     Sherman  attacked  Johnston, 
and  drove  him  step  by  step  through 
the  mountains  to  Atlanta.     President  Davis  therefore 
removed  Johnston  and  put  in  command  General 
Hood,  who,  after  trying  in  vain  to  beat  Sherman, 
turned    and    started    back    toward    Tennessee, 
hoping  to  draw  Sherman  after  him.     But  Sher- 
man sent  Thomas,  the  Rock  of  Chickamauga, 
to    deal    with    Hood,    and    Thomas    destroyed 
Hood's  army  in  a  terrible  battle  at  Nashville 
in  December,  1864.     In  the  meantime  Sher- 
man started  to  march  from  Atlanta  to  the 
sea.     The  army  advanced  in  four  columns,  cover- 
ing a  stretch  of  country  sixty  miles  wide,  and 
living    on    the    country    as    they  went.      They 
tore    up    the    railroads,  destroyed    the    bridges, 
and    in    December,    1864,    occupied    Savannah,      a  Confederate  soldier 


A  Union  soldier 


204 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON   THE    LAND 


^WBt 

^gp^ 

»^„~ .                                  /Ir* 

•  •. 

BIL 

s^3 

/' '  p^^?*i 

Bf-^ 

|pLlV^ 

l|3^HM^^&v^^W^^iyj*iBr 

tSw^BSIbS 

i"                             -^8I*^BB5 

Tn-rwr:..  ^  -Slf- 

Painting  by  F.  O.  C.  Barley 


Sherman's  march  to  the  sea 


What 
Grant  did 


There  Sherman  stayed  for  a  month,  during  which  his  soldiers 
became  impatient.  "  Uncle  Billy,"  they  would  call  out  as  he 
went  by  them,  "  I  guess  Grant  is  waiting  for  us  at  Richmond." 

February  1, 1865,  the  march  was  resumed,  and  was  continued 
across  South  Carolina  to  Goldsboro  in  North  Carolina. 

Grant,  according  to  agreement,  began  his  attack  on  Lee  in 
Virginia  the  same  day  that  Sherman  marched  against  Johnston 
in  Georgia.  Starting  from  a  place  called  Culpeper  Court 
House,  Grant's  army  entered  the  Wilderness,  a  tract  of  coun- 
try covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  oak  and  pine,  and  after 
much  hard  fighting  made  its  way  around  Richmond  and  laid 
siege  to  Petersburg. 

After  a  time  Lee  saw  that  he  could  no  longer  hold  these 
cities,  and  in  April,  1865,  he  left  Richmond  and  marched 
westward.     Grant  followed,  and  on  April  9,  1865,  Lee  surren- 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON   THE   LAND  205 

dered  his  army  at  Appomattox  Court  House.  Johnston  sur- 
rendered to  Sherman  near  Raleigh  in  North  Carolina  about  two 
weeks  later ;  Jefferson  Davis  was  taken  prisoner  in  May. 

This  ended  the  war  ;   the  Confederacy  fell  to  pieces ;    and  End  of  the 
the  Union  was  saved.     Once  more  there  was  but  one  govern-  w 
ment  for  the  United  States. 

SUMMARY 

1.  With  the  firing  on  Sumter  the  Civil  War  began,  and  Union  and  Con- 

federate armies  were  soon  gathered  at  various  places  along  the  Poto- 
mac River,  in  western  Virginia,  in  Kentucky,  and  in  Missouri. 

2.  1861,  July.     A  Union  army  tried  to  drive  back  the  Confederates  in 

Virginia,  but  was  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run. 

3.  1862,  February.     The  Union  forces  in  the  West  took  Forts  Henry  and 

Donelson,  after  which  they  pushed  southward  across  Tennessee. 

4.  1862,  April  to  August.     General  McClellan  moved  up  the  Peninsula 

from  Yorktown,  but  failed  to  take  Richmond,  and  returned  north 
by  sea. 

5.  1862,  August-September.     The  Confederates  under  Lee  now  started 

to   invade    the    North,    but    turned    back    after    a    great    battle    at 
Antietam. 

6.  1862,  December;   1863,  May.     The  Union  army  in  the  East  twice 

advanced  against  the  Confederates,  and  was  beaten  at  Fredericksburg 
and  at  Chancellorsville. 

7.  1863,  June-July.     Lee  began  a  second  invasion  of  the  North,  but  was 

beaten  at  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania. 

8.  1863,  July.     Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  were  captured,  and  the  Mis- 

sissippi River  was  now  in  Union  hands. 

9.  1863,  September ;    November.     The  Confederates  in  the  West  de- 

feated the  Union  army  at  Chickamauga,  but  General  Grant  took 
command  and  defeated  them  near  Chattanooga. 
10.  1864,  May,  to  1865,  April.  General  Sherman  fought  his  way  from 
Tennessee  to  Atlanta  and  marched  across  Georgia  to  Savannah,  and 
then  north  to  Raleigh.  At  the  same  time  General  Grant  carried  on 
a  bloody  campaign  against  Lee,  and  at  last  forced  him  out  of  Rich- 
mond and  compelled  him  to  surrender  at  Appomattox  Court  House. 


206 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON   THE   WATER 


CHAPTER   XXII 


THE    WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON   THE    WATER 


Duties  of  the         On    the  Union    navy,  during    the  war,  fell  duties   of   five 

Dnionnavy      kinds:  — 


1. 


4. 


5. 


The  blockade 


It  blockaded  the   coast   from   Chesapeake  Bay  to  the  Rio 

Grande  in  Texas. 
It  helped  to  capture  the  seaports  and  forts  scattered  along 

this  great  coast  line. 
It  got  control  of  the  bays  and  sounds  along  the  coast,  as 

Chesapeake,  Albemarle,  Pamlico,  Mobile,  Galveston. 
It  aided  the  army  in  opening  the  rivers,  as  the  Mississippi, 

Arkansas,  Tennessee,  Red. 
It  tried  to  protect  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  on  the 
ocean,  and  to  destroy  all  Confederate  cruisers. 


A  seaport  is  blockaded  by  keeping,  off  the 
entrance,  armed  ships  to  fire  on  any  vessel  that 
tries  to  go  in  or  come  out.  To  blockade  all 
the  bays,  sounds,  and  harbors  of  our  coast, 
from  Norfolk  to  Texas,  was  a  hard  task  and 
required  a  great  number  of  ships.  Trad- 
ing ships,  river  steamboats  of  all  sizes,  tugs, 
and  ferryboats  were  therefore  bought  by 
the  government,  and  the  blockade  began. 
To  make  it  as  complete  as  possible,  the 
hulks  of  old  whalers  were  taken  from  New 
England  to  some  of  the  Southern  ports, 
filled  with  stone,  and  were  sunk  in  the 
channels.  Trade  with  the  South  was  thus  ended  unless  vessels 
could  run  the  blockade,  and  that  is  just  what  they  did. 


An  old  whaler 


WAR  FOR   THE   UNION  ON  THE   WATER  207 

The  South  raised  millions  of  bales  of  cotton,  which  were  sold  Blockade 
to  manufacturers  in  Great  Britain  and  made  into  cotton  cloth.  running 
Great  Britain  depended  on  the  South  for  cotton,  and  in  order 
to  get  it,  blockade  running  became  a  regular  business  and  was 
engaged  in  by  many  trading  firms  in  Liverpool.      Some  had  as 

many  as  fifteen  vessels.    At  first  __ 

they  were  old  craft,  so  that  if 

they   were   captured    the    loss 

would  not  be  great.     But  speed 

soon   became  so  important   that 

ships   were    especially  built    for 

the  work.     They  were  long,  low 

steamers,  drawing  but  a  few  feet  A  blockade  runner 

of  water,  and  having  great  speed. 

They  burned  hard  coal,  which  made  no  smoke,  and  were  painted 

a  dull  gray,  so  as  not  to  be  easily  seen. 

The  port  of  Nassau  in  the  British  island  of  New  Providence, 
off  the  coast  of  southern  Florida,  was  selected  as  the  place  from 
which  the  runners  were  to  start,  and  to  it  were  brought  arms, 
salt,  gunpowder,  medicine,  boots,  clothing,  whatever  the  Con- 
federates wanted.  At  Nassau  the  goods  were  loaded  on  a 
blockade  runner,  whose  departure  was  so  nicely  timed  that  the 
vessel  would  be  off  the  port  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  on 
a  night  when  the  moon  did  not  shine  and  when  the  tide  was 
high.  Then,  trusting  to  the  darkness,  the  runner  would  dash 
through  the  line  of  blockading  warships  and  by  daylight  would 
be  safe  in  Confederate  waters.  After  landing  the  smuggled 
cargo  the  vessel  would  be  loaded  with  cotton,  and  during  a  dark 
night  or  storm  would  run  out  and  steam  back  to  Nassau.  Some 
blockade  runners  went  to  Charleston  instead  of  Wilmington. 
As  neither  of  these  cities  was  captured  till  near  the  end  of  the 
war,  this  blockade  running  grew  to  be  a  large  business. 


208 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON  THE    WATER 


Confederate 
cruisers 


Another  way  in  which  Great  Britain  helped  the  South  was 
by  allowing  the  Confederates  to  fit  out  vessels  in  England  for 
the  purpose  of  capturing  or  sinking  the  trading  ships  of  the 
United  States.  Several  of  these  commerce  destroyers  were 
fitted  out,  but  the  Alabama  was  the  most  famous  of  them. 
The  Alabama  was  built  for  the  Confederacy  at  Liverpool,  Eng- 
land, and  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  United  States  minister 
at  London  was  allowed  to  go  to  sea. 

Off  the  Azores  Islands  she  was  met  by  a  British  vessel  hav- 
ing on  board  her  guns  and  ammunition,  and  by  a  steamer  with 


I'amtvng  by  J.  O.  Davidson 


The  Alabama  and  the  Kearsarge 


Copyright,  18U2,  by  C.  Klackner 


her  crew  and  Captain  Raphael  Semmes.  Sailing  leisurely 
across  the  Atlantic  the  Alabama  burned  twenty  vessels,  cap- 
tured a  mail  steamer  in  the  West  Indies,  destroyed  one  of  the 
warships  blockading  Galveston,  and  took  her  place  off  the  east 
coast  of  Brazil  in  the  pathway  of  ships  homeward  bound  from 
the  East  Indies  and  the  Pacific.  Here  ten  prizes  were  taken, 
after  which  the  Alabama  went  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 


WAR   FOR   THE    UNION   ON   THE    WATER 


209 


then  to  the  China  Sea ;  then  back  once  more  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  and  by  way  of  Brazil  and  the  Azores  to  the  port  of 
Cherbourg  in  France,  having  captured  sixty-six  vessels  during 
her  cruise. 

While  the  Alabama  was  anchored  in  the  harbor  of  Cherbourg, 
the  United  States  cruiser  Kearsarge  entered  the  port.  A  chal- 
lenge to  fight  was  sent  and  accepted,  and  one  Sunday  morning  in 
June,  1864,  the  two  ships  met  in  combat  off  the  coast  of  France, 
and  when  the  battle  ended  the  Alabama  sank  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea.  Most  of  the  other  Confederate  cruisers  in  one  way  or 
another  fell  into  the  hands  of  United  States  authorities.  After 
the  war  Great  Britain  was  forced  to  pay  $15,500,000  for  the 
damage  she  did  to  American  shipping  by  allowing  the  Con- 
federate cruisers  to  leave  her  ports. 

Another  very  famous  ship  duel  was  that  of  the  Monitor  and 
the  Merrimac. 

When  the  war  opened  in  1861,  one  of  the  finest  navy  yards  The  Merrimac 
in  the  United  States  was  near  Norfolk,  Virginia.     Having  no 
means  to  defend   it,  the 
officer   in   command    set 
fire  to  the  shops,  houses, 
and   ships,  and   tried  to 
blow    up    the    great    dry 
dock.      One  of  the  vessels 
which  burned  to  the  water's 
edge    and   then   sank  was 
the    steam    frigate   Merri- 
mac;  but  the  Confederates 
found  that  her  eno-mes  and 

the  hull  under  water  were  not  damaged,  so  they  raised  her  and 
made  her  into  an  ironclad  ram.  Her  deck  was  almost  level  with 
the  water,  and  on  it  was  built  a  sort  of  long,  low  house  with 


The  Merrimac 


210  WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON  THE   WATER 

sloping  sides  covered  with  thick  plates  of  iron.  In  the  sides 
were  holes  for  the  guns.  At  the  bow,  about  two  feet  under 
water,  was  a  cast-iron  ram. 

what  the  To  make  these  changes  was  slow  work,  so  it  was  March,  1862, 

before  the  Virginia,  as  the  Merrimac  was  renamed  by  the  Con- 
federates, steamed  out  upon  the  broad  sheet  of  water  called 
Hampton  Roads.  Just  across  the  Roads  lay  at  anchor  the 
Union  war  vessels,  Cumberland  and  Congress,  toward  which  she 
now  made  her  way.  As  she  drew  near,  the  guns  on  the  Cumber- 
land and  the  Congress  opened  lire  ;  but  their  shot  glanced  from 
her  iron  sides  like  pebbles,  and  keeping  steadily  on,  the  Merrimac 
drove  her  ram  into  the  side  of  the  Cumberland,  crushed  it  like 
an  eggshell,  and,  backing  away,  left  a  hole  "  wide  enough  to 
drive  in  a  horse  and  cart."  Through  this  the  water  poured 
till  the  gallant  ship  filled  and  sank,  her  flag  flying  and  her  guns 
booming  as  she  went  down. 

Turning  to  the  Congress,  the  Merrimac,  after  an  hour's  fight- 
ing, forced  her  to  surrender  and  set  her  on  fire.  As  it  was 
now  late  in  the  afternoon,  the  Merrimac  drew  off  and  left  a 
third  ship,  the  Minnesota,  to  be  destroyed  in  the  morning ;  but 
when  morning  came,  there  lay  beside  the  Minnesota  a  small, 
odd-looking  craft,  that   had   arrived   at  Hampton    Roads  the 

The  Monitor  ^J^  night  before.    It  was  the  Moni- 

tor,  designed  by  Captain  John 


ofe^  ~/^~~*    Ericsson,  built  at  New  York, 

Side  view  of  the  Monitor  aild   Sent  r0Ulld  ^  Sea-       Her 

broad  deck  was  almost  as  low 

as  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  was  plated  with  sheets  of  iron. 

On  the  deck  was  an  iron  cylinder  or  turret  which  could  be  made 

to  revolve  by  machinery,  and  in  this  were  two  very  large  guns. 

The  Monitor's  voyage  from  New  York  was  a  terrible  one. 

The  waves  swept   the   deck,  and  rolled  completely  over  the 


WAR  EOR  THE   UNION  ON  THE   WATER 


211 


of  the 
Monitor 


little  pilot  house  in  the  bow,  sending  floods  of  water  through  The  voyage 
the  sight  holes  and  once  knocking  the  helmsman  from  the 
wheel.  Torrents  of  water  came  down  the  smokestack,  and 
poured  in  streams  through 
cracks  and  crannies  into  the 
hull.  The  fires  were  nearly 
put  out  and  the  engine  room 
so  tilled  with  gas  that  no  man 
could  live  there.  More  than 
once  it  seemed  certain  that 
the  little  craft  must  founder 
in  the  sea.  But  she  kept 
afloat,  and  as  she  rounded 
Cape  Henry  late  on  the  after- 
noon of  March  8,  1862,  the 
distant  booming  of  guns  told 
the  crew  that  a  tight  was  ra- 
ging, for  the  Merrimac  was 
then  engaged  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Congress.  Dark- 
ness came  on  before  the  scene 
of  action  was  reached,  but  as 
the  Monitor  came  up  the 
Roads  those  on  board  saw 
the  Congress  burning. 

About  eight  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  the  Merrimac  was  seen  coming  across  the  Roads 
to  finish  the  work  she  had  left  undone  the  evening  before. 
Whether  or  not  that  work  was  to  remain  undone,  depended 
solely  upon  the  insignificant  little  craft  flying  the  Union  flag 
and  looking,  it  was  said,  "like  a  cheese  box  mounted  on  a  raft," 
which  now  swung  free  from  her  moorings  and  started  forth  to 


Painting  by 
J.  O.  Davidson 


Burning  of  the 
Congress 


212 


WAR   FOR   THE   UNION   ON   THE    WATER 


The 

first  battle 

of  ironclads 


battle.  During  four  hours  the  fighting  raged  without  either 
ship  being  able  to  harm  the  other  seriously.  The  Merrimac 
then  withdrew,  and  the  Monitor  went  back  to  her  place  beside 
the  Minnesota.  In  one  sense  neither  ship  won  ;  but  as  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Merrimac  was  to  destroy  the  Minnesota,  and  the 
purpose  of  the  Monitor  was  to  prevent  it,  the  victory  was  with 
the  Monitor.  Yet  the  fight  was  the  greatest  in  modern  times. 
Never  before  in  the  world's  history  had  two  ironclad  ships 
engaged  in  battle:  and  when  it  was  over,  the  days  of  wooden 
navies  were  gone,  and  all  warships  had  to  be  built  anew  out  of 
iron  or  steel. 


J'atitlui'j  by    II '.  // 


Farragut  in  Mobile  Bay 


In  May,  1862,  when  the  Confederates  left  Norfolk,  the  Mer- 
rimac was  destroyed  by  her  crew.  And  in  January,  1863,  the 
Monitor  was  lost  in  a  storm  at  sea. 


on  rivers 
and  bays 


REBUILDING   THE    SOUTHERN   STATES  213 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  services  of  the  navy  Naval  battles 
ended  with  the  blockade  of  the  coast  and  the  defeat  of  the  Ala- 
bama and  Merrimae.  Desperate  battles  were  fought  and  victo- 
ries won  on  the  western  rivers  and  in  the  bays  of  the  southern 
coast.  It  was  Farragut's  fleet  that  ran  past  the  forts  on  the 
lower  Mississippi  and  captured .  New  Orleans ;  it  was  Foote's 
flotilla  that  took  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee  ;  it  was  Davis's 
fleet  that  cleared  the  Mississippi  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
to  Memphis  (1862).  Porter's  fleet  ran  by  the  forts  at  Vicks- 
burg  to  assist  the  army  under  Grant  (1863),  and  Farragut 
destroyed  the  Confederate  fleet  in  Mobile  Bay  (1864).  The 
fleet  under  Dupont,  aided  by  the  army,  captured  Port  Royal 
(1861).  All  along  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  Confederate  States 
the  services  of  the  navy  were  conspicuous. 

SUMMARY 

1.  The  navy  had  five  duties. 

2.  The  blockade  of  Southern  ports  cut  off  the  cotton  supply  of  Great  Britain 

and  led  to  blockade  running. 

3.  The  South  obtained  several  commerce  destroyers.     The  most  famous  of 

these,  the  Alabama,  was  sunk  in  a  fight  with  the  Kearsarge. 

4.  Another  famous  sea  fight  was  that  of  the  Monitor  and  the  Merrimae. 

5.  Other  naval  victories  were  won  for  the  Union  on  the  Mississippi  River; 

at  New  Orleans ;  in  Mobile  Bay ;  and  along  the  Atlantic  coast. 

CHAPTER   XXIII 

REBUILDING  THE    SOUTHERN   STATES 

There  is  another  side  to  the  war  besides  the  fights  on  land 
and  sea,  and  that  is  the  cost  in  life  and  moneyo 

While  the  war  was  going  on,  President  Lincoln  called  twelve 
times  for  volunteers.    To  these  calls  there  were  about  2,770,000 

McM.   PR.   H.  14 


214 


REBUILDING   THE   SOUTHERN   STATES 


What  the  war 
cost  in  life 


What  the  war 
cost  in  money 


Union  Cemetery  at  Arlington 


responses  ;  each  time 
many  thousands  of 
men  left  their  homes 
and  occupations,  and 
served  in  the  defense 
of  the  Union.  This 
does  not  mean  that 
there  were  2,770,000 
soldiers  in  the  field  at 
any  one  time.  Some 
served  for  three 
months,  some  for  six, 
some  for  a  year, 
others  for  three  years. 
Very  often  the  same 
men  would  enlist  again  when  their  term  was  out.  The  greatest 
number  of  men  in  the  army  was  in  April,  1865,  when  1,000,000 
were  under  pay,  and  of  these  650,000  carried  arms.  During 
the  four  years  of  fighting  about  360,000  men  died  in  defense  of 
the  Union.  As  the  Confederate  loss  was  probably  as  great,  we 
may  believe  that  the  war  cost  the  lives  of  700,000  citizens. 
To  understand  fully  the  cost  in  money  is  out  of  the  question. 

1.  There  was  the   national   debt,  amounting  in  1865  to  over 

$2,800,000,000.     Nearly  all  of  this  money  had  been  spent 
on  the  war. 

2.  Between  1862  and  1865  there  was  raised  by  taxation  nearly 

$800,000,000.     The  greater  part  of  this  also  went  for  war 
purposes. 

3.  There  was  interest  to  pay  on  the  national  debt,  and  pensions 

for  the  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  for  the  widows 
and  orphans  of  the  men  who  lost  their  lives. 


REBUILDING  THE   SOUTHERN   STATES 


215 


Between  1861  and  1879  our  national  government  spent  on 
account  of  the  war  more  than  $6,000,000,000.  The  states  also 
spent  large  sums  of  money,  and  so  did  the  cities  and  towns. 
Their  war  expenditure  amounted  to  more  than  $450,000,000. 

You  are  not  expected  to  remember  these  figures.  Nobody 
can  understand  what  $6,000,000,000  means.  The  sums  spent 
are  given  in  order  that  you  may  know  in  a  general  way  what 
the  people  of  the  North  did  in  order  that  our  Union  might  be 
preserved,  that,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "  government  of  the  peo- 
ple, by  the  people,  for  the  people,  may  not  perish  from  the 
earth." 

What  have  we  gained  by  the  war  ? 

1.  We  have  shown  that  our  Union  is  firm  and  can  not  be  broken. 

2.  We  have  increased  respect  for  our  government  at  home  and 

abroad.  There  are  no 
more  threats  of  seces- 
sion ;  no  more  fears  that 
government  by  the  peo- 
ple can  not  endure  ;  no 
more  doubts  that  when- 
ever necessary  the  peo- 
ple will  rally  to  its  sup- 
port and  defense. 

3.  Slavery,   which    made    so 

much  trouble  for  eighty 
years,  has  been  abol- 
ished. The  negro  now 
has  the  "  inalienable 
rights  "  of  man  men- 
tioned in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence. 


What  the  war 
accomplished 


Monument  to  Confederate  dead,  Richmond 


216 


REBUILDING   THE   SOUTHERN   STATES 


Lincoln 
murdered 


Johnson  and 
the  Congress 


Mr.  Lincoln  was  reelected  President  in  the  autumn  of  1864, 
and  a  second  time  sworn  into  office  on  the  4th  of  March,  1865. 
It  was  only  a  few  weeks  after  this  that  Lee  surrendered  (April 
9) ;  and  on  the  14th  of  April,  four  years  after  the  attack 
on  Fort  Sumter,  the  old  flag  was  again  raised  over  the  ruins. 
On  the  evening  of  that  day  Lincoln  was  shot  in  Ford's  Theater, 
Washington,  by  an  actor  named  John  Wilkes  Booth. 

Booth  belonged  to  a  party  of  conspirators,  one  of  whom  that 
same  night  made  his  way  into  the  home 
of  Mr.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  and 
stabbed  him  as  he  lay  on  a  sick  bed. 
Lincoln  died  the  next  day,  but  Sew- 
ard recovered.  Booth  was  tracked 
to  his  hiding  place  in  Virginia  and 
was  shot.  Four  other  conspirators 
were  hanged,  and  still  others  were 
imprisoned  for  life. 
On  the  death  of  Lincoln,  the  Vice- 
President,  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennes- 
see, became  President,  and  took  up  the  work  of  reconstructing 
the  Confederate  States.  The  governors  and  other  officers  of 
these  states,  —  men  who  had  helped  the  Confederacy,  —  were 
put  out  of  office,  and  Union  men  were  elected  or  appointed  to 
take  their  places.  The  states  then  chose  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives to  sit  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Like  Lincoln,  President  Johnson  believed  that  no  state  had 
a  right  to  leave  the  Union.  Therefore,  he  said,  none  ever 
had  left  the  Union,  and  now  the  war  was  over,  the  states  that 
had  belonged  to  the  Confederacy  had  as  much  right  as  ever  to 
send  senators  and  representatives  to  Congress. 

Congress  denied  this,  and  when  the  Southern  members  came 
refused  to  admit  them  to  seats.     Congress  said  that  the  eleven 


Ford's  Theater 


REBUILDING  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES 


217 


Birthplace  of  President  Johnson 


seceded  states  must  do  certain  things  before  they  could  be 
entitled  to  representation.  Johnson  then  declared  that  if  they 
were  not  represented,  Congress  had  no  right  to 
make  laws  affecting  them. 

In  this  manner  a  quarrel  began  (between 
the  President  and  Congress),  which 
went  on  from  bad  to  worse.  At 
last  Johnson,  having  purposely 
broken  a  law,  and  having 
traveled  about  the  country 
making  speeches  abusing  Con- 
*  gress,  was  impeached  and 
g'  brought  to  trial  in  order 
that  if  found  guilty  he  might 
be  removed  from  the  office 
of  President.  He  was  not 
found  guilty,  and  served  out  his  term.  But  no  seceded  state 
was  admitted  to  representation  till  it  had  done  as  Congress 
demanded. 

Meantime  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  reconstructed  states 
was  dreadful. 

When  the  war  began,  the  people  of  the  North  were  intent  The  abolition 
on  saving  the  Union ;  but  as  the  strife  went  on,  the  feeling  of  slavery 
became  general  that  there  never  could  be  a  lasting  Union  so 
long  as  slavery  existed  in  any  of  the  states,  and  great  efforts 
were  made  to  secure  its  abolition.  It  was  abolished  in  the 
territories  and  the  District  of  Columbia  by  act  of  Congress. 
On  the  1st  of  January,  1863,  President  Lincoln  freed  all  slaves 
within  the  Confederate  lines.  But  this  merely  gave  freedom 
to  certain  negroes  and  did  not  affect  the  right  of  white  men 
to  hold  slaves.  Moreover,  the  emancipation  proclamation,  as  it 
is  called,  was  not  heeded  in  the  Confederate  States  till  after 


218 


REBUILDING   THE   SOUTHERN   STATES 


- 


5!M£&,.h 


Lincoln  Emancipation  Statue 


the  war ;  nor  did  it  ever  free  any  slaves  in  the  Union  States 
of  Delaware,  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri, 
nor  in  Tennessee  and  certain  parts  of  Louisiana  and 
Virginia.      The  right  of  a  state  to  permit  its  citi- 
zens to  hold  slaves  was  not  taken  away  till  after 
the  war,  when,  by  an  addition  (amendment)  to 
the  federal  Constitution,  slavery  was  ended 
forever  in  our  country. 

The  position  of  the  negroes  was  greatly 
changed  when  they  were  set  free,  for  they 
were  also  given  the  right  to  vote,  and, 
having  this  right,  they  elected  men  of  their 
own  race  to  office.  Ignorant  negroes,  un- 
able to  read  or  write  or  understand  the 
The  negroes'  meaning  of  a  law,  were  sent  to  make  laws  for  the  whites  as 
well  as  themselves.  Not  knowing  what  to  do,  they  easily  fell 
under  the  lead  of  bad  white  men,  who  thus  got  control  of 
the  Southern  States.  The  whites,  the  old  citizens,  being  out- 
numbered by  the  negroes,  began  to  prevent  the  negroes  from 
voting.  Negroes  were  paid  money  not  to  go  to  the  polls,  or 
were  frightened  away.     Sometimes  force  was  used. 

Many  people  now  felt  that 
to  set  the  slaves  free  was 
not  enough.  The  freed- 
men,  as  they  were  called, 
must  be  protected.  Ac- 
cordingly two  more 
additions  were  made  to 
the  federal  Constitution. 
They  were  intended  to 
secure  to  the  negroes  all 
the    rights   white    men  Negro  cabin 


REBUILDING   THE   SOUTHERN   STATES 


219 


have  in  our  country, 
and  to  prevent  any 
state  from  taking 
away  the  negroes' 
right  to  vote. 

In  spite  of  these 
amendments,  which 
are  part  of  the  su- 
preme law  of  our 
land,  the  suppression 
of  negro  votes  went 
on.  Congress  then 
passed  a  law  to  pun- 
ish those  engaged  in  such  unlawful  acts.  But  even  this  law 
had  to  be  enforced  by  the  use  of  the  army.  Not  till  1877, 
twelve  years  after  the  war  ended,  did  affairs  in  the  South  quiet 
down,  and  the  country  show  signs  of  being  really  reunited. 
The  term  of  Andrew  Johnson  and  the  two  terms  of  President 
Grant  (who  followed  Johnson  in  office)  are  therefore  in  some 
ways  the  darkest  in  our  history. 


Grant's  tomb,  New  York 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  war  had  not  quite  ended  when  President  Lincoln  was  murdered 

and  Andrew  Johnson  became  President. 

2.  The  question  next  to  be  settled  was,  Shall  the  states  lately  in  the  Con- 

federacy be  allowed  to  send  senators  and  representatives  to  Congress? 

3.  .  The  President  thought  they  should  be  allowed  to  do  so.     Congress  thought 

they  should  not  until  they  were  reconstructed. 

4.  Out  of  this  grew  a  quarrel,  in  the  course  of  which  Johnson  was  impeached, 

but  not  found  guilty. 

5.  The  states  were  now  reconstructed  on  the  congressional  plan,  and  three 

changes  were  made  in  the  federal  Constitution. 


220  THE   RISE   OF   THE   NEW   WEST 

CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  NEW  WEST 

The  We  have  seen,  in  the  course  of  our  story,  that  from  the  time 

migration  tne  English  colonies  were  planted  on  the  Atlantic  coast  the 

people  began  moving  westward.     At  first  the  migration  was 

slow.     But  it  went  steadily  on  till  at  last  the  English  began 

to  crowd  the  French  in  the  Allegheny  valley,  and  so  brought 

on  the  French  and  Indian  War.     The  frontier  was  then  east 

of  the  Appalachian  Mountains. 

To  the  As  a  result  of  that  long  struggle  the  French  were  driven 

faneySiPP1  from  our  countlT'  ancl  English  colonists  went  into  Kentucky 

and  Tennessee.     After  the  War  for  Independence,  the  people 

moved  into  Ohio,  and  pushing  steadily  westAvard  soon  occupied 

much  of  our  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  River.     By  1821 

they  had  crossed  that  river  and  made  the  state  of  Missouri. 

The  frontier  was  then  in  Michigan,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Louisiana. 

During  a  long  time  no  other  states  were  formed  west  of  the 

Mississippi,  but  between  1836  and  1846  Arkansas,  Texas,  and 

Iowa  were  admitted  into  the  Union. 

to  the  So  far  the  movement  westward  had  been  a  natural  one.     But 

Pacific  coast  with  ^  djscovery  0f  g0\^  'm  IS4S,  we  enter  on  a  period  when 

the  precious  metals  play  a  chief  part  in  the  rush  of  people  west- 
ward. The  same  thirst  for  gold  which  sent  the  early  Spaniard 
wandering  over  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  in  the  days  of 
Coronado,  sent  our  people  in  1849  to  California,  and  ten  years 
later  into  what  we  know  as  Colorado. 
Colorado  The  territory  of  Kansas  then  included  part  of  what  is 
now  Colorado,  and  there,  in  1858,  a  party  of  gold  hunters  came 
upon  some  rich  mines.  As  the  news  spread,  men  rushed  to 
Kansas  just  as  they  did  to  California,  and  in  a  few  months  a 


THE   RISE   OF   THE   NEW   WEST 


221 


busy  little  town  called   Denver   sprang   up  near   Pikes  Peak 
(map,  p.  223). 

These  miners  needed  supplies  and  connection  with  the  East, 
and  to  get  them,  some  enterprising  men  started  a  line  of  stages 
which  ran  daily  between  Denver 
and  Leavenworth. 

Even    this    was    not 
enough  for  the  restless, 
daring,      enterprising 
people.    A  better  mail 
service    was    wanted 
between      California 
and  the  East.     Sena- 
tor    Gwin     of     Cali- 
fornia therefore  urged 
the    stage   company  to 
send  a  pony  express  across 
the   two   thousand  miles   which 
separated  the  city  of  Sacramento 
from  the  Missouri  River,  and  in  the  year  1860  this  was  done. 

As  the  purpose  of  the  express  was  to  carry  the  mail,  speed  The  pony 
was  to  be  considered.  But  to  gain  speed  the  distance  run  by  a  express 
pony  must  be  short.  Stations  were  therefore  established  every 
fifteen  or  twenty-five  miles,  and  at  these  were  fresh  horses  for 
the  riders.  Mounted  on  his  pony,  a  mail  carrier  would  start 
every  day  from  each  end  of  the  line,  ride  at  a  gallop  to  the 
first  relay,  leap  on  the  back  of  a  fresh  horse  standing  ready, 
hurry  on  to  the  second  station,  mount  another  pony  almost 
without  stopping,  and  ride  off  at  breakneck  speed  for  the  third 
station.  There,  sitting  in  the  saddle,  would  be  found  a  second 
rider.  Dashing  up  to  him,  the  first  would  deliver  the  mail 
pouch,  and  in  a  moment  the  fresh  carrier  would  be  off.     By  day 


Pony  express 


222 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  NEW   WEST 


The  overland 
stage 


and  by  night,  in  sunshine  and  in  rain,  in  summer  and  in  winter, 
over  prairie  and  mountain,  these  brave  men  made  their  perilous 
rides  with  the  precision  of  a  railroad  train.  As  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  must  be  made  each  day,  not  a  pound  of  extra  weight 
was  allowed.  Every  letter  must  be  written  and  every  news- 
paper printed  on  the  thinnest  tissue  paper,  and  on  each  of  them 
five  dollars  must  be  paid  as  the  cost  of  carriage.  No  service 
was  ever  more  dangerous,  and  not  a  rider  but  could  tell  of  fights 
with  the  Indians,  of  hardships  suffered,  and  of  hairbreadth 
escapes  from  death. 

After  an  existence  of  two  years,  the  pony  express  came  to  an 
end ;  for  a  telegraph  line  had  then  been  completed  across  the 
continent,  and  all  important  news  went  over  the  wire. 

Next  came  the  overland  stage,  carrying  passengers,  letters, 
and  packages.     From  the  first  the  stages  were  objects  of  hatred 


The  overland  stage 


to  the  Indians,  who  made  a  stage  ride  across  the  continent  a 
journey  full  of  danger.  Finally,  in  1862,  while  our  country  was 
struggling  for  its  very  life,  Congress  authorized  the  building  of 


THE   KISE   OF  THE   NEW   WEST 


223 


a  railroad  connecting  the  Missouri  River  with  the  state  of  The  first 
California.  Two  companies  were  to  do  the  work ;  the  Central  rallro^d 
Pacific,  starting  at  Sacramento  in  California,  was  to  build 
eastward  ;  the  other,  the  Union  Pacific,  beginning  at  Omaha, 
Nebraska,  was  to  push  westward  till  the  two  met.  Work  was 
not  begun  in  earnest  till  Lee  had  surrendered  and  the  Union 
had  been  saved.  But  then  it  went  on  so  rapidly  that  in  May, 
1869,  the  two  lines  met  near  Ogden,  Utah.  The  all-rail 
route  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  was  finished.  Miners, 
settlers,  ranchmen,  now  hurried  to  the  West,  and  in  1876 
Colorado,  which  fifteen  years  before  was  little  better  than  a 
howling  wilderness,  became  a  state  in  the  Union.  It  was  the 
thirty-eighth  state ;  for  between  1858  and  1867  there  had  been 
admitted  Minnesota,  Oregon,  Kansas,  West  Virginia,  Nevada, 
and  Nebraska. 

But  one  railroad  to  the  Pacific  was  not  enough.    The  northern  The  Northern 
part  of  our  country  must  have  one  also,  and  in  1870  the  build- 
ing of  the  Northern  Pacific,  from  Lake  Superior  to  Puget  Sound, 
was  begun.     On  the  day  the  first  rail  was  laid  that  marvelous 
and  beautiful  region  was  almost  without  white  settlers.     Duluth 


Pacific 


J2C''\°V  SCM.E  of  miles    ■  :m:f    .        y'<\  ;,  %M^B*es  Peak'-     "~       ~    -^  «*«k» 

_     {        °       100   \200     360  1'  460  y    '    \  \  I  "^^-—L^K^A/S^  A   S 


The  northwestern  part  of  our  country 


224  THE   RISE   OF   THE   NEW   WEST 

had  just  been  founded.  Superior  city  was  a  collection  of  huts 
in  the  woods  on  the  lake  shore.  Westward  of  these  places,  not 
a  town  existed  for  a  thousand  miles.  Save  a  few  military  posts 
and  trading  stations,  not  a  white  man's  house  could  be  found 
between  Lake  Superior  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  some 
pioneer  miners  were  opening  the  gold  mines  of  Montana.  From 
the  Missouri  to  the  mountains  the  whole  region  was  held  by  the 
Indians.  It  was  their  buffalo  hunting  grounds,  to  which  each 
year  came  tribes  from  the  north  and  from  the  south  to  lay  in 
their  winter  store  of  buffalo  jerked  meat  and  skins.  At  the 
falls  of  the  Missouri  was  Fort  Benton,  a  frontier  post.  To  it, 
when  the  water  was  high,  steamboats  came,  bringing  supplies 
for  the  Indian  reservations  and  the  Montana  miners,  and 
taking  back  gold,  buffalo  robes,  and  cattle. 

Two  hundred  miles  westward,  in  the  mountains  of  Montana, 
was  a  community  of  miners  and  ranchmen  who  had  come  there 
during  the  war  and  founded  Helena  and  several  oth^r  towns. 
Some  were  miners,  some  raised  grain  and  vegetables,  and  others 
herded  cattle. 

Beyond  the  Rockies,  in  the  valleys  of  rivers  running  into  the 
Columbia,  were  more  miners  ;  but  no  large  settlement  existed 
east  of  Oregon.  As  the  railroad  pushed  on  across  this  wilder- 
ness, all  began  to  change.  Settlers  came  in,  towns  were 
founded,  and  farming  was  begun  on  an  immense  scale.  To-day 
this  region,  once  thought  of  small  account,  is  a  great  wheat- 
growing  section  of  our  country. 

The  white  man  now  occupied  most  of  the  continent.     Let 

us  see  what  had  become  of  the  Indians. 

Indian  wars       We  have  seen  how  from  the  very  start  they  resisted  the 

in  the  East    comjng  0f  t]ie  white  man,  and  how  in  spite  of  all  they  could 

do  they  were  pushed  steadily  westward.     We  have  seen  the 

Pequots  destroyed  in  Connecticut,  and  other  eastern  Indians 


THE   RISE   OF  THE   NEW   WEST 


225 


An  Indian  home 


crushed   for  the  aid 

they      gave       King 

Philip.       We     have 

seen  the  Indians  as 

allies  of  the  French 

fighting    along    the 

whole     frontier    for 

nearly     seventy-five 

years     (1689-1763), 

in  a  desperate  effort 

to    keep    back    the 

English.     We  have 

seen  them  (after  the 

French  were    driven  from  America)  fighting    under   Pontiac, 

in  the  vain  attempt  to  drive  the  white  man  out  of  the  valley 

of  the  Mississippi,  as  Philip  and  his  successors  had  striven  to 

drive  them  out  of  New  England ;  and  we  have  seen  the  long 

struggle  in  Kentucky,  a  struggle  so  fierce  that  the  region  was 

well  named  "  the  dark  and  bloody  ground." 

What  thus  went  on  in  the  colonial  days  went  on  for  a  Indian  wars 
hundred  years  more.  Scarcely  had  the  early  settlers  in  Ohio  in0hl° 
put  up  their  cabins  at  Marietta  and  Cincinnati  when  the  near-by 
tribes  dug  up  the  hatchet  and  began  a  war  of  extermination. 
They  beat  one  army  under  General  Harmar,  cut  to  pieces 
another  under  General  St.  Clair,  and  spread  terror  along  the 
border,  till  General  Anthony  Wayne  destroyed  their  power  in 
a  great  battle  in  northwestern  Ohio. 

During  seventeen  years  the  settlers  were  unmolested.     But  Tecumsen 
the  steady  stream  of  white  men  ever  moving  westward,  cutting 
down  the  forests,  killing  the  beaver,  the  buffalo,  and  other  game, 
and  forcing  the  Indians  to   new  hunting  grounds,   at  length 
aroused  another  great  chief,   Tecumseh.     He,  too,   attempted 


226 


THE    RISE    OF   THE   NEW   WEST 


Removal  of 
the  Indians 


West  of  the 
Mississippi 


what  Philip  and  Pontiac  had  tried  in  vain :  he  sought  to  join 
all  the  tribes  in  one  grand  attack  on  the  frontier,  in  one  desper- 
ate effort  to  drive  back  the  white  man.  But  General  William 
Henry  Harrison  broke  his  power  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe 
in  Indiana  (1811),  and  three  years  later  the  great  chief  lost  his 
life  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames  in  Canada. 

Meantime  the  southern  Indians,  aroused  by  Tecumseh,  took 
the  warpath,  and  in  their  turn  were  crushed  by  General  Jack- 
son in  Alabama  and  in  Florida. 

It  was  now  quite  clear  that  all  the  strong  tribes  of  Indians 
must  go  from  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and 
when  Jackson  was  President  a  region  west  of  that  river  (Indian 
Territory)  was  set  apart  for  their  use,  and  the  work  of  removal 
was  begun.  Some  went  quietly,  others  resisted,  and  two  more 
wars  followed  before  the  last  tribe  crossed  the  great  river :  the 

short  struggle  of 
Black  Hawk  in  Illi- 
nois and  Wisconsin 
(1832)  and  the  seven 
years'  war  by  Osceola 
and  others  in  Florida 
(1835-1842). 

Over  the  vast  wil- 
derness covering  most 
of   the   territory   be- 
tween the  Mississippi 
and  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains it  seemed  as  if 
the     Indians     might 
roam  unmolested.     But  gold  and  silver  were  discovered  ;   the 
white  man  was  soon  rushing  over  the  plains  and  mountains, 
and  the  Indians  were  again  in  the  way.     Some  had  been  sent 


Party  of  northwestern  Indians 


THE   RISE   OF   THE   NEW   WEST 


227 


Recent 


to  Indian  Territory.  Others  were  moved  to  reservations  in  the 
Northwest,  only  to  be  moved  again  and  again,  as  the  farmer,  the 
miner,  the  cattleman,  the  railroad,  closed  in  around  them. 

As  in  the  past,  so  now  a  desperate  struggle  followed.  The 
Sioux  (1862)  rose  in  Minnesota  and  began  the  most  horrid  Indianwars 
massacre  the  country  had  known  since  colonial  days.  They 
were  put  down,  but  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Sioux  reserva- 
tion in  Montana  (1866)  aroused  Red  Cloud,  and  another  war  fol- 
lowed. The  outbreaks  made  by  the  chief  Black  Kettle,  by  Crazy 
Horse,  and  by  Spotted  Tail ;  the  massacre  of  General  Custer 
and  his  men  by  the  Sioux  in  southern  Montana  ;  the  Modoc 
War,  growing  out  of  an  attempt  to  move  the  Modocs  from 
California  to  Oregon  ;  and  the  long  struggle  of  the 
Nez  Perces  led  by  the  ablest  of  modern  Indian  war- 
riors, Chief  Joseph,  were  some  of  the  last  desperate 
efforts  of  the  Indians  to  drive  back  the  white  man. 

To-day  there  are  in  our  country,  scattered  over 
reservations  of   all   sizes,  some    200,000    Indians. 
As  of  old,  they  are  still  divided  into  many  tribes, 
speaking  different  languages  and  living  in  vari- 
ous stages  of  civilization.     Some,  as  the  Sioux, 
live  in  wigwams  and  are  brave,  smart,  and  dan- 
gerous.      Some,  as  the   Cherokees,  are  well   off, 
dwell  in  good  houses,  and  dress  much  as  we  do. 
Others,  as  the   Shoshonees,  are  ignorant,  shiftless, 
and  dirty,  and  wander  about  in  bands  like  tramps. 
Others,  as  the  Zuili,  make  pottery,  or  as  the  Navajos, 
weave  beautiful  blankets. 

Most  of  the  Indians,  even  the  fiercest  of  them,  are  absolutely 
under  the  control  of  the  reservation  agents.  Every  Indian 
may,  however,  become  a  citizen,  if  he  will  leave  his  tribe  and 
live  as  white  men  do. 


The 

Indians 

to-day 


Zuni  Indian 


228 


THE   CLOSE    OF  THE    CENTURY 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  discovery  of  gold  near  Pikes  Peak  in  1859  led  to  the  founding  of 

Denver  and  the  settlement  of  Colorado. 

2.  Communication  with  the  East  and  the  Pacific  was  provided  at  first  by 

the  pony  express  and  the  overland  stage ;  but  these  primitive  means 
of  transportation  were  replaced  by  a  railroad  finished  in  1869. 

3.  In  1870  a  second  railway  across  the  continent  to  join  Lake  Superior  and 

the  Pacific  was  begun ;  and  the  Northwest  was  opened  to  settlement. 

4.  The  Indians,  who  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  had  been  steadily 

pushed  westward,  now  tried  again  to  withstand  the  white  man,  and  a 
series  of  Indian  wars  and  uprisings  occurred  in  the  Northwest. 

CHAPTER    XXV 

THE   CLOSE   OF   THE  CENTURY 


The  history  of 
our  country  since  cen- 
tennial year  (1876) 
is  the  familiar  one  of 
steady  growth  and 
increasing  prosperity. 
The  building  of  the 
railways  across  the 
continent  made  a  new 
West  and  a  new 
Northwest.  The  buf- 
faloes that  roamed 
over  the  plains  by 
millions  in  1870  were 
all  but  exterminated  in  1880,  and  in  their  place  came  herds  of 
cattle,  sheep,  and  horses.  Grain  farms,  cattle  ranches,  mining 
towns,  and  prosperous  villages  covered  the  great  plains  once 


Western  cattle  ranch 


THE   CLOSE   OF   THE   CENTURY 


229 


thought  little  better  than  a  desert,  and  seven  more  states 
(between  1889  and  1896)  were  admitted  into  the  Union  :  North 
and   South    Dakota,  Montana,  Washington,   Idaho,  Wyoming, 


IMMIGRANTS 


The  waves  of  immigration 

and  Utah.  Three  of  these,  Idaho,  Montana,  and  Wyoming, 
did  not  exist  as  geographical  divisions  in  1860,  and  their  names 
are  not  to  be  found  on  the  map  of  our  country  of  that  date. 

All  this  means  that  in  the  course  of  a  century  our  country- 
men have  spread  over  the  continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific.  But  they  are  not  the  only  people  who  moved  west- 
ward, for  thousands  on  thousands  have  come  to  us  from  the 
Old  World.  Before  1820,  not  more  than  10,000  immigrants 
came  over  each  year,  but  thereafter  for  a  long  time  more  and 
more  arrived  nearly  every  year,  till  about  100,000  landed  on 
our  shores  in  the  course  of  twelve  months.  Then  the  number 
fell  off  slightly.  But  in  a  little  while  famine  in  Ireland,  and 
hard  times  in  Germany,  sent  over  a  great  wave  of  immigration, 

MCM.   PR.    H. 15 


Our 

immigrants 


230 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   CENTURY 


People  of  the 
Northwest 


swelling  up  year  after  year,  till  more  than  400,000  foreigners 
came  to  us  in  one  year.  Then  the  wave  spent  itself,  and  the 
tide  went  down,  only  to  turn  into  a  second  wave  greater  than 
before.  By  this  time  sailing  vessels  had  given  place  to  steam- 
ships. The  voyage  was  ten  days  instead  of  twenty-four  ;  the 
cost  was  less  ,*  the  Northwest  was  growing ;  our  government 
was  giving  farms  to  men  and  women  who  would  really  live 
on  them  and  cultivate  them.  Under  the  influence  of  these 
causes  this  wave  of  immigrants  rolled  toward  us,  till  in  1873 
the  number  that  came  over  was  460,000.  The  wave  then  went 
down,  fewer  people  coming  every  year.  But  it  soon  rose  again 
to  789,000  in  1882,  after  which  it  went  down  once  more  and 
then  rose  again.  Since  the  year  1789  more  than  20,000,000 
people  have  come  to  our  country  from  the  Old  World.  Most 
have  come  from  Ireland,  Germany,  England,  Norway  and 
Sweden,  and  Italy. 

As  the  cost  of  travel  across  the  ocean  became  lower  and 
lower,  the  steamship  companies  sought  emigrants  to  bring  out, 
and  the  cities  and  countries  of  Europe  began  to  send  over  beg- 
gars, paupers,  and  criminals.  Laws  have  therefore  been  made 
to  exclude  such  persons,  and  also  the  Chinese,  who  are  consid- 
ered by  the  people  of  the  Pacific  coast  as  most  undesirable  im- 
migrants. 

While  the  settlers  in  the  Northwest  are  chiefly  from  the 
Eastern  States,  vast  numbers  of  them  are    Germans,  Swedes, 


Harvester 


THE   CLOSE   OF   THE   CENTURY 


231 


the  East 


Modern  newspaper  printing  press 


and  Norwegians.  In  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  North  and  South 
Dakota,  there  are  large  stretches  of  country  where  almost  every 
inhabitant  is  a  Norwegian  or  a  Swede. 

In  the  old  states  the  changes  of  a  quarter  century  have  been  changes  in 
even  more  marked.     There,  too,  popu- 
lation has  increased  with  astonish- 
ing  rapidity,  and   cities  which 
were  small  in  1870  grew  to 
be  great  in  1900.     New  in- 
dustries   have    arisen,    old 
ones  have  been  immensely 
enlarged,  and  many  occu- 
pations that  were  unknown 
when  the  Civil  War  ended 
give  employment  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and  women. 

A  little  more  than  four  hundred  years  have  now  passed  since  Four  periods 
Columbus  landed  on  the  shore  of  San  Salvador.     As  we  look 
back  over  these  centuries  the  history  of  our  country  falls  natu- 
rally into  four  periods. 

1.  The  first  period,  1492-1600,  was  the  age  of  discovery.  Discovery 
Explorers  from  Europe  sailed  along  our  coast,  touching  it  here 

and  there,  and  so  laying  the  foundation  for  claims  to  ownership 
by  several  European  countries.  Spain  in  this  way  obtained 
claims  to  Florida  and  all  the  Gulf  coast,  England  to  our  Atlantic 
shore,  and  France  to  the  river  and  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Now 
and  then  some  bold  adventurer,  as  De  Soto  or  Coronado,  went 
into  the  interior  and  established  for  his  country  a  claim  to 
territory  far  from  the  seaboard.  But  when  the  period  closed 
no  settlements  by  Europeans  existed  within  our  bounds  on  the 
mainland,  save  at  St.  Augustine  and  Santa  Fe\ 

2.  The  second  period,  1600-1700,  was  that  of  occupation  occupation 
and  settlement.     It  was  during  these  years  that  England  planted  settlement 


232 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   CENTURY 


all  her  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  save  Georgia  ;  that 

the  Dutch  and  Swedish  settlements  were  made  on  the  Hudson 

and  the    Delaware  ;    that  France   took  possession  of   the   St. 

Lawrence  valley ;    and  that   Marquette,  Joliet,  and  La   Salle 

explored  the  Mississippi. 
The  struggle  3.    The  third  period,  1700-1800,  is  memorable  for  the  long 

or  possession  s^rUgg}e  for  possession.     Before  1700  the  Dutch  had  conquered 

the  Swedish  colony,  and  the  English  had  conquered  the  Dutch; 

but  during  the  period  1700-1800  the  English  conquered  the 


Colonies  before  the  Revolution 


United  States  in  1783 


French,  and  acquired  Florida  from  Spain,  so  that  all  of  our 
country  east  of  the  Mississippi,  save  a  little  piece  about  New 
Orleans,  came  under  the  British  Crown.  The  new  colonial 
policy  adopted  by  Great  Britain  after  this  expansion  of  terri- 
tory brought  on  the  war  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother 
country,  which  ended  with  the  overthrow  of  British  rule  and 
the  establishment  of  the  republic  of  the  United  States. 

Independence  secured  and  a  definite  territory  acquired,  the 
struggle  for  a  better  government  began.  After  a  few  years' 
trial,  the  old  Articles  of  Confederation  were  abandoned,  the 
Constitution  was  framed  and  adopted,  and  the  century  closed 
with  our  country  fairly  started  on  its  marvelous  career  of 
prosperity. 


THE   CLOSE   OE   THE    CENTURY 


233 


4.  When  the  fourth  and  last  period,  1800  to  the  present,  Growth  of 
opened,  our  country  lay  between  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east  our  country 
and  the  Mississippi  on  the  west ;  between  Canada  on  the  north 
and  Florida  (which  had  been  given  back  to  Spain)  on  the  south  : 
the  states  were  but  sixteen  in  number,  and  the  entire  popula- 
tion, men,  women,  and  children,  black  and  white,  free  and 
slave,  was  less  than  is  now  to  be  found  in  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania or  of  New  York.  But  our  country  went  on  expanding 
the  people  went  on  increasing  in  number,  and  state 


in  area 


United  States  in  1803 


United  States  in  1819 


after  state  was  added  to  the  Union.  By  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  from  France  in  1803;  by  the  purchase  of  Florida 
from  Spain  in  1819  ;  by  the  acquisition  of  the  Oregon  country ; 
by  the  annexation  of  Texas  in  1845  ;  and  by  the  cession  from 
Mexico  in  1848,  our  country  spread  steadily  westward  till  by 
1850  it  stretched  across  the  continent  from  ocean  to  ocean  (see 
the  next  map).  There  were  then  thirty-one  states  in  the 
Union,  inhabited  by  twenty-three  million  people.  The  fron- 
tier, which  in  1800  had  just  crossed  the  Appalachian  Mountains, 
was  in  1850  on  the  plains  beyond  the  Mississippi. 

Cleveland,  Columbus,  Detroit,  St.  Louis,  which  thirty  years  our  country 
before  were  little  frontier  villages,  were  now  towns  of  impor-  in  l8s° 
tance.     The  older  cities  of  the  East  had  not  only  grown  in  size, 


284 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   CENTURY 


but  had  greatly  changed  in  appearance.  Omnibuses  and  street 
cars  and  gas  were  in  use.  The  free  common  schools  had 
become  an  American  institution,  and  many  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries had  done  much  for  the  happiness,  comfort,  and  pros- 
perity of  the  people.  The  steamboat  was  now  on  river,  lake,  and 
ocean,  and  joined  the  Old  World  with  the  New.  The  railroad 
pushing  westward  had  almost  reached  Chicago,  and  the  tele- 
graph was  coming  into  general  use. 

During  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  our  area  was 


United  States  in  i* 


United  States  in  1853 


still  further  expanded  by  the  Gadsden  purchase  in  1853  (south- 
ern New  Mexico  and  Arizona),  by  the  purchase  of  Alaska  from 
Russia  in  1867,  by  the  annexation  of  the  Hawaiian  Republic,  and 
by  the  acquisition  of  Porto  Rico,  Guam,  and  the  Philippines, 
inUi«x>Untry  an(^  °f  a  ^ew  °tner  islands,  so  that  in  1900  our  flag  floated  over 
territory  stretching  halfway  around  the  globe.  Our  states  then 
numbered  forty-five,  and  our  people  seventy-six  million.  We 
have  become  a  great  world  power :  we  have  tested  and  proved 
the  possibility  of  what  Mr.  Lincoln  grandly  called  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people.  We  have  shown 
that  it  is  possible  for  millions  of  people,  living  in  a  country  of 
vast  size,  to  grow  rich  and  prosperous  without  the  rule  of  king 
or  emperor. 


THE   CLOSE   OF   THE   CENTURY 


235 


The  spread  of  our  country's  population 

{The  dots  shoto  where  the  most  people  lived  at  each  dale) 


SUMMARY 

1.   The  history  of  our  country  falls  naturally  into  four  periods : 

a.  Discovery  and  exploration  of  the  new  continent,  1492-1600. 

b.  Colonization  of  North  America,  1600-1700. 

c.  The  long  struggle  for  possession,  ending  with  the  establishment  of 

the  United  States  of  America,  1700-1800. 

d.  The  expansion  and  the  industrial  and  political  development  of  our 

country,  1800  to  the  present. 


236 


THE   CLOSE   OF  THE   CENTURY 


2.   During  the  nineteenth  century  there  were  nine  important  acquisitions  of 
territory,  as  follows  :  — 

5.  Mexican  cession         .         1848 

6.  Gadsden  Purchase     .         1853 

7.  Alaska       .        .        .        1867 

8.  Hawaii       .        .        .        1898 


1. 

Louisiana  . 

1803 

2. 

Florida 

1819 

3. 

Texas 

1845 

4. 

Oregon  country 

1846 

9.   Porto  Rico,  Guam,  the  Philippines  . 


1899 


Longitude       12C       East 


180     Longitude  West     120      from 


The  United  States  and  its  possessions  (shown  by  the  heavy  shading) 

3.  Six  of  these  pieces  of  new  territory  were  purchased ;  two  were  republics 

which  we  annexed  with  their  consent.  One  was  acquired  by  discovery, 
exploration,  and  settlement.  The  fifth  and  ninth  acquisitions  of  terri- 
tory were  the  direct  result  of  wars.  The  rest  were  gained  by  peace- 
ful means. 

4.  Between  1800  and  1900  our  population  rose  from  5,000,000  to  76,000,000, 

and  our  states  increased  in  number  from  sixteen  to  forty-five.  During 
this  period  of  our  history  20,000,000  emigrants  came  to  us  from  the 
Old  World. 


THE  EVENTS  OF  RECENT  YEARS 


237 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


THE  EVENTS  OF  RECENT  YEARS 


In  the  last  chapter  mention  was  made  ^  The  Hawaiian 

of  our  annexation  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
and     our     acquisition     of     Porto      ,,- 
Rico,  Guam,  and  the  Philippine 
Archipelago.       Many   years 
ago,  when    the    natives    of 
the  Sandwich  or  Hawaiian 
Islands  were   heathen,   mis- 
sionaries  from   our   country 
went  out  there  and  labored 
earnestly  to  convert  the  na- 
tives to   Christianity  and  to 
civilize    them.       They    suc- 
ceeded so  well  that  numbers  of 
white  men  came  to  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  for  purposes  of  trade  and 
commerce.     In  1893,  the  descend- 
ants of  these  early  settlers,  with  others  that  came  later,  were 
so  dissatisfied  with  the  government  of  the  native  queen  that 
they  deposed  her,  formed  a  republic,  and  asked  to  be  joined  to 
the  United  States. 

Mr.  Cleveland,  who  became  President  shortly  after  this, 
was  opposed  to  annexation,  so  nothing  was  done  for  five  years, 
when  (1898)  Hawaii  was  formally  joined  to  the  United  States. 
It  has  since  (1900)  been  made  a  territory. 

Meantime  a  revolution  of  a  dreadful  sort  was  going  on  in  Rebellion 
another  island  much  nearer  our  coast.      Early  in   1895   the  mCuba 
people  of  Cuba  rebelled  against  Spain  and  founded  a  republic. 


.JET 


Hawaiian  scene 


238 


THE  EVENTS  OF  RECENT  YEARS 


Key  West  •'••" 

Nassau^    *.                 S<                        8CALf.  QF  M„_ES 
£|  <S>  .  4  V                   ^     -      6        100      200       300 

Havana 

ISLE  OF 

Pines 

m               Santiago  de  Cuba            i~ ■'      '^w'p^w,      °**  ,/*'•>'* 

West  Indies 


The  Afa/7?e 


A  cruel  and  barbarous 
Avar  followed,  which 
deeply  interested  our 
countrymen  for  sev- 
eral reasons.  Large 
sums  of  American 
money  were  invested 
in  Cuban  mines,  rail- 
roads, and  planta- 
tions ;  we  were  forced  to  police  our  coasts  to  prevent  the 
Cubans  from  carrying  arms  and  military  supplies  from  our 
country  to  the  insurgents ;  our  commerce  with  the  island  was 
almost  ruined  ;  and  we  were  shocked  at  the  cruel  way  in  which 
Spain  carried  on  the  war. 

For  some  years  past  our  country  had  been  trying  to  per- 
suade Spain  to  allow  the  Cubans  to  govern  themselves ;   but 
Spain  would  not  consent  to  such  a  thing.     In  February,  1898, 
our  battleship  Maine,  which  was  lying  in  the  harbor  of  Havana, 
was  blown  up  and  sunk,  with  two  hundred  and  sixty  officers 
and  men  killed.     Then  all  hope  of  a  peaceful  ending  of  our 
troubles  with  Spain    j  disappeared,  and  in  April,   1898,   Con- 
gress  demanded    that    Spain    should 
leave     Cuba,    and     authorized     the 
President  to  use  force  to  make  her 
do  so,  if  necessary. 

And  now  war  began  in  earnest. 
One  fleet,  which  had  been  gath- 
ering at  Key  West  in  Florida, 
went  off  under  Admiral  Samp- 
son to  blockade  the  port  of 
war  with  Havana.  Another  under  Commodore  Dewey  sailed  from 
Spain  begins  china  to  destroy  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 


The  battleship  Maine 


THE  EVENTS  OF  RECENT  YEARS 


239 


This  group  of  islands,  many  hun-    v 
dred  in  number,  lies  off  the  east  coast 
of  Asia.     They  were  discovered 
by  Magellan  (1521)  during  the 
first  voyage   that   was    ever    r 
made    around    the    world.     Jjjj 
As  Magellan's  expedition 
was  in  the  Spanish  serv- 
ice,   Spain    claimed    the 
Philippines  (which  were 
so      named     from     King 
Philip  II.  of  Spain)  and 
in   1898  she   had   owned 


Scene  in  the  Philippines 


Blockade  of 
Santiago 


these  islands  for  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

In  the  harbor  of  Manila,  on  May  1,  1898,  Dewey  found  the  The  battle 
ships   of   the   enemy.       Passing  the  forts  at  the  entrance,  he  Bay 
entered  the  bay,  destroyed  the  entire  Spanish  fleet  of  ten  ships, 
winning  a  great  victory,  and  blockaded  Manila.     General  Mer- 
ritt,  with  twenty  thousand  soldiers,  was  then  sent  across  the 
Pacific  to  take    j    possession  of  the  Philippines. 

A  second  Spanish   fleet,  under 
Admiral    Cervera,  meantime   had 
started  for  Cuba  from  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,    and   after    a    time 
our  ships  found  it  in  the 
harbor  of  Santiago  de  Cuba, 
a  port  on  the  south  coast  of 
the   island.      The    entrance 

Dewey's  flagship  Olympia 

was  by  a  long  and  narrow 
channel  between  high  hills  bristling  with  forts  and  batteries. 
To  go  in  and  attack  the  Spanish  ships  was  impossible.     But 


240 


THE  EVENTS  OF  RECENT  YEARS 


Battles  near 
Santiago 


they  must  be  kept  there  till  troops  should  come  over  from 
Florida  and  capture  the  city.  In  order,  therefore,  to  prevent 
the  escape  of  Cervera,  the  harbor  was  closely  blockaded  by  the 
fleets  under  Rear  Admiral  Sampson  and  Commodore  Schley. 
Besides  this,  Lieutenant  R.  P.  Hobson  with  a  crew  of  seven 
men  took  a  coal  ship  into  the  channel,  blew  holes  in  her  sides, 
and  sank  her,  amidst  a  rain  of  shot  and  shell.  The  gallant 
band  were  unhurt,  but  were  taken  prisoners  and  were  after- 
wards exchanged. 

An  army  under   General    Shafter  was  now  hurried   from 
Florida  to  Cuba,  and  landed  a  few  miles  from  Santiago.     Seri- 


wms. 


IS'; 


mm 


Copyright,  1898,  by 
W.  R.  Hearst 


Wreck  of  the  Spanish  ship  Oquendo 


ous  fighting  followed  ;  but  the  success  of  our  troops  made  the 
capture  of  the  city  so  certain  that  Admiral  Cervera  was  ordered 
to  break  through  our  fleet  and  put  to  sea.     On  the  morning  of 


THE  EVENTS  OF  RECENT  YEARS 


241 


Sunday,  July  3,  1898,  the  attempt  was  accordingly  made,  for 
it  was  thought  that  on  Sunday  our  officers  would  be  less  watch- 
ful.    But  Cervera  found  them  fulty  prepared.     A    desperate 


Street  in  Porto  Rico 

fight  ensued,  and  in  a  few  hours  every  one  of  the  six  ships  of 
the  enemy  was  either  sunk  or  stranded  or*a  burning  wreck  on 
the  coast  of  Cuba. 

All  hope  of  successful  resistance  to  our  army  was  now  over, 
and  July  14,  General  Toral  surrendered  Santiago  and  all  the 
east  end  of  Cuba. 

A  week  later  General  Miles  set  off  with  a  small  army  to  cap-  Porto  Rico 
ture  the  island  of  Porto  Rico.     He  landed  on  the  south  coast, 


242  THE   EVENTS   OF   RECENT   YEARS 

took  Ponce,  and  was  marching  across  the  island  toward  San 
End  of  the  Juan,  when  at  the  request  of  Spain  all  fighting  ceased,  and  a 
war  preliminary  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Washington. 

Spain  promised  to  leave  Cuba,  and  to  surrender  to  us  Porto 
Rico  and  one  of  the  islands  in  the  Ladrones.  It  was  also  agreed 
that  we  should  hold  the  city  and  harbor  of  Manila  till  a  perma- 
nent treaty  of  peace  should  dispose  of  the  Philippines. 

News  of  peace  was  sent  to  Manila  as  fast  as  possible,  but 
before  it  came,  the  city  was  attacked  and  captured  by  the 
army  under  General  Merritt  and  the  fleet  under  Admiral 
Dewey. 
Terms  of  According  to  the  final  treaty  of  peace,  Spain  withdrew  from 
Cuba  ;  Porto  Rico,  and  the  island  of  Guam  in  the  Ladrones, 
were  delivered  to  us  ;  and  the  Philippines  were  sold  to  us  for 
$20,000,000.  While  the  treaty  was  under  consideration,  General 
Otis,  who  had  succeeded  General  Merritt,  occupied  Manila  ; 
but  the  natives  under  Aguinaldo  held  the  rest  of  the  island 
of  Luzon,  on  which  the  city  is  situated. 
The  Aguinaldo  considered  himself  an  ally  of  the  United  States, 

insurrection  ano^  now  that  Spanish  rule  was  at  an  end,  insisted  that  we 
should  leave  the  Philippines  to  the  Filipinos.  This  we  refused 
to  do,  whereupon,  on  the  night  of  February  4,  1899,  Aguinaldo 
attacked  our  troops  in  Manila  and  brought  on  an  insurrection 
against  our  authority  that  has  with  difficulty  been  put  down. 
The  Chinese  And  now  we  became  involved  in  strife  with  China.  There 
is  in  that  country  a  popular  society  called  The  Boxers,  whose 
motto  is  "Kill  all  Foreigners."  Early  in  1900,  the  Boxers, 
feeling  sure  that  the  Chinese  Empress  was  in  sympathy  with 
them,  rose  and  began  the  work  of  destruction.  Native  Chris- 
tians were  massacred  ;  missionaries  were  killed,  mission  stations 
were  burned  ;  railways  were  torn  up  ;  and  even  at  Pekin,  the 
capital  of    China,  all   foreigners  were  forced  to  take  refuge 


disorders 


THE  EVENTS  OF  RECENT  YEARS 


243 


Copyright,  1901,  by  J.  C.  Hemmenl 


Legation  Street,  Pekin 


under  the  roofs  of  the  ministers  who  represented  their  respec- 
tive countries. 

It  now  became  necessary  to  rescue  these  people,  who  were 
besieged  by  Boxers  and  Chinese  troops  ;  and  as  quickly  as 
possible  an  allied  army  of  British,  Germans,  French,  Russians, 
Japanese,  and  Americans  was  gathered  in  China,  and  marched 
against  the  cities  of  Tientsin  and  Pekin.  Both  were  captured 
and  most  of  the  Europeans  were  saved. 

In  1900  President  McKinley  was  reelected.     Since  the  death  Presidents 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  our  Presidents  have  been  : 


since  the 
Civil  War 


Andrew  Johnson    . 
Ulysses  S.  Grant     . 
Rutherford  B0  Hayes 
James  A.  Garfield  . 
Chester  A.  Arthur . 


1865-1869 

1869-1877 
1877-1881 
1881 
1881-1885 


Grover  Cleveland  . 
Benjamin  Harrison 
Grover  Cleveland  . 
William  McKinley 


1885-1889 
1889-1893 
1893-1897 

1897- 


244  THE   EVENTS  OF   RECENT  YEARS 

SUMMARY 

1.  In  1898  the  Republic  of  Hawaii  became  part  of  the  United  States. 

2.  A  rebellion  in  Cuba,  the  cruel  treatment  of  the  Cubans,  and  the  serious 

injury  to  the  interests  of  Americans,  forced  our  country  to  intervene, 
and  brought  on  a  war  with  Spain.  When  it  ended,  Cuba  was  free,  and 
Porto  Rico,  Guam,  and  the  Philippine  Islands  were  possessions  of  the 
United  States. 

3.  Our  occupation  of  the  Philippines  was  followed  by  a  revolt  of  some  of  the 

natives,  under  the  lead  of  Aguinaldo. 

4.  Just  as  the  insurrection  in  the  Philippines  was  dying  out,  the  rebellion 

of  the  Boxers  in  China  involved  us  in  trouble  with  that  country. 


INDEX 


Key  to  Pronunciation.  — Vowels  :  a  in  late,  a  in  fat,  a  in  care,  a  in  far,  a  in  last,  a  in  fall,  a  in 
was,  au  in  author ;  e  in  me,  e  in  met,  g  in  vgil,  e  in  term  ;  T  in  fine,  !  in  tin,  i  in  police ;  o  in  note, 
6  in  not,  6  in  son,  6  in  for,  o  in  do  ;  u  in  tune,  u  in  nut,  u  in  rude,  u  in  full ;  y  in  my,  y  in  hjrmn. 
Consonants:  c  in  cent,  €  in  can  ;  g  in  gem,  g  in  get;  n  =  ny  in  barnyard,  n  =  ng,  N  =  ng  but  is 
silent ;  qu  =  kw  ;  §  =  z  ;  th  in  this.     Italic  letters  are  silent. 


PAGE 

Ab-o-li'tion-ists       176,  177 

A 'bra-ham,  Plains  of 105,106 

A -ca'di-a,  taken  by  English 97 

A'co-mii 28 

Ad'ams,  John,  President 152,  177 

signs  Declaration  of  Independence    .     .    .  127 

signs  treaty  of  Paris 142 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  President 177 

Adams,  Samuel 116,  117,  121 

A-do'bg,  houses  of 22 

A-gw'i-naTdo 242 

Al-a-ba'ma,  admitted  to  Union 170 

Creek  war  in 159 

joins  Confederacy 193 

Alabama,  cruise  of 208,  209 

claims  settled 209 

A-las'ka •.     234,  236 

Al'ba-ny,  founded 73 

becomes  English 76 

Al'be-marle  Sound 83,  206 

A17e-g7tg-ny     valley,    French     and    British 

claims 100-102 

Al-ta-ma-ha*  Kiver 88 

A-mg-ri'go  Ves-puc'ci  (-poot'chee),  America 

named  for 14 

An'der-son,    Major   Robert,    at   Fort    Sum- 
ter       193-195 

An'drg,  Major  John,  story  of 141 

An 'dros,  Sir  Edmund 91,92 

An-nap'o-lis,  Maryland 55 

Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia 97,  99 

An-tie'tam,  battle  of 200 

An-ti-slav'er-y  agitation 177 

Ap-pa-la'chi-an  Mountains 17,  103 

Ap-po-mat'tox  Court  House,  Lee  surrenders 

at 205 

"  Ar'go-nauts  "  of  California 1S5 


PAGE 

AVi-zo'na,  Indians  in 22 

Ar'kan-sas,  admitted  to  Union     .    .     .     178,  220 

joins  Confederacy 196 

Arkansas  River,  discovered 38 

Ar'nold,  Ben'e-dict,  bravery  of 140 

turns  traitor 141 

Ar'thur,  Chester  A.,  President 243 

Ar'ti-cles  of  Confederation 150 

As'tor,  John  Jacob 179 

As-to'ri-a,  founded 179 

Atch'i-son,  founded 191 

At-lan'ta,  Sherman's  march  from     ,    .    203,  204 

Au-gus'ta,  Georgia,  founded 89 

A-zore§'  Islands,  Alabama  at 208 

Back' woods  men 108,  137 

Ba-ha'masj,  discovery  of 11 

pirates  in 86 

Bal'ti-morg,  attacked  by  British 157 

founded 55 

Baltimore,  Lord,  proprietor  of  Maryland  .     .    54 

Bar'ba-dos  Island 83 

Bar-ce-lo'na 14 

Bat'on  Rouge   (roozh),  captured   by  Span- 
iards     144 

"  Battle  above  the  Clouds  " 202 

Bean,  William 134 

Beau're-gard   (bo  -),    General,  at  Fort  Sum- 
ter   195 

Ben 'ton,  Fort,  trading  at 224 

Berke'ley,  Lord,  proprietor  of  New  Jersey   .     77 

Ber-mu'da,  Virginia 50 

Bienville  (be-aN-veel'),  at  New  Orleans     .     .    98 

Bil-ox'i,  settlement  at 41 

Bi'son,  or  buffalo 18,  26,  29 

extermination  of 228 

Black  Hawk,  Indian  chief 226 


McM.    PR.   H.  16 


245 


246 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Black  Kettle,  Indian  chief 227 

Blockade,  of  Cuban  ports 238,  240 

of  Southern  ports 206,  207 

Blockhouses  in  New  England 65 

Bon 'net,  Stede,  pirate 87 

Boone,  Daniel,  in  Kentucky 134 

Boones'bor-o,  founded 134 

Booth,  John  Wilkes,  murders  Lincoln      .     .  216 

Bos'ton,  British  in 120,  126 

founded 60 

port  closed 119 

tea  ships  at 116-118 

Boston  Tea  Party 118 

Boundary  line 232-234 

northeastern 179 

northwestern 180 

southern 163 

southwestern 166,  234 

Bow-quet  (-ka'),  Colonel  Henry 109 

Box'ers,  of  China 242,  243 

Brad'dock's  expedition 104,  105 

Brad'ford,  William,  of  Plymouth      .     .     .   58,60 
Bragg,  General,  at  Chickamauga       ....  202 

Bran'dy-wine,  battle  of 130 

Breck'in-ridge,  John  C 193 

Breeds  Hill,  Prescott  at 124 

British.    See  Great  Britain  and  England. 

Bryn  Mawr' 80 

Buc-ca-neer§',  in  the  Carolinas      ....    84-87 

BueA-an'an,  James,  President 193 

Buf  fa-lo 18,  26,  29,  224 

extermination  of 228 

Bull  Run,  first  battle 197 

second  battle 200 

Bun 'ker  Hill,  battle  of    ......    124,125 

Bur-goyne',  General,  surrender  of   ...    .  130 

Burn 'side,  General,  commander  of  Army  of 

Potomac 200,  201 

Bush'y  Run,  battle  of 109 

Cab'ot,  voyages  of 44 

Ca-ho'ki-a,  taken  by  Clark 137 

Cal-hown',  John  C,  advocates  secession  .     .  187 
Cal-i-for'ni-a,  admitted  to  Union  .     .     .     186,  187 

conquest  of 181 

gold  discovered  in 183-186 

Can'a-da,  ceded  to  Great  Britain      .     .     .    .106 

French  settlers  in 35,  36 

Ca-na'ry  Islands,  Columbus  at 9 

Cape  Brdt'on 99 

Car'a-vel§  seized  for  Columbus 9 

Car-ib-be'an  Islands,  discovered 14 

Car-o-H'na,  colony  of 83-87,  89 

Ca-ron'de-lfi* 37 


PAGE 

Car'pen-ters'    Hall,   first    Continental    Con- 
gress at    „ H9 

Car'ter-et,   Sir  George,    proprietor  of  New 

Jersey .     .     77 

Car-tier'  (-tya'),  explorations  of  .    .     .     .    31-33 

Casket  girls 9g,  99 

Cer-vg'ru  (ther-),  Admiral,  at  Santiago      239-241 

Cham-plain',  and  the  Iroquois 33 

founds  Quebec .     .    34 

Champlain,  Lake,  battle  of 156 

Chan'cel-lor§-ville,  battle  of 201 

Cha-pul-tg-pec',  battle  of 181 

Charles/ton,  blockade  running  at      ....  207 

British  attack 138 

founded 83 

pirates  in '......  85,  86 

taken  by  British       138-140 

tea  ships  at 116,  118 

Char'ter  Oak       91 

Charters,  colonial 90,  91 

Chat-ta-noo'ga,  siege  of 202 

Chaw-tau'qua  Lake 100 

Cher'bourg,  battle  of  Kearsarge  and  Ala- 
bama near 209 

Cher-o-kee'  Indians 227 

Ches  a-peake,  British  fire  upon 154 

captured 157 

Chesapeake  Bay 45 

Chick-a-mau'ga,  battle  of 202 

Chi'na,  disorder  in 242,  243 

Chi-nese',  exclusion  of 230 

Cin-cin-na'ti,  founded 225 

Ci-pan'go 11 

Civil  War 193-213 

causes  of    190-193 

cost  of 214 

results  of 215 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  conquests  of     .    137,  138 

Clark,  William,  explorations  of 165 

Clay,  Henry,  effects  Compromise  of  1S50  .     .  1S7 

effects  Missouri  Compromise 176 

Cler-m&nt' ,  first  successful  steamboat  .  .  172 
Clove 'land,  Grover,  President  .  .  .  237,  243 
Clin'ton,  General,  at  Monmouth       ....  133 

Col'o-nies,  the  thirteen S9-91 

become  states 126 

Col-o-ra'do,  admitted  to  Union 223 

gold  discovered  in 220 

Co-lum'bi-a,  District  of 150,  152 

Columbia  River,  discovered 165 

Co-lum'bus,  Christopher 8-14 

Com'pro-uilse,  Missouri,  adopted     .     .     .     .176 

repealed 190 

Compromise  of  1850 187,  190 


INDEX 


247 


PAGE 

Cone 'ord,  battle  of 122,123 

C6n-es-to'ga  wagon 162 

Con-fed'er-a-cy 193 

See  Civil  War. 
Confederate  states,  reconstruction  of    .     216,  217 

Con  fed-er-a'tion,  Articles  of 150 

Con'gress,    Continental.      See    Continental 
Congress. 

Congress,  destroyed 210,  211 

Congress,  Stamp  Act 115 

Congress  of  the  United  States 148 

Con-nect'i-cut,  colony  of     .     .     .      61,  62,  91,  92 

gives  "  back  lands  "  to  Congress    .     .     .     .145 

Con-sti-tu'tion  of  United  States   .     .     .     148-150 

Constitutional  Convention 148 

Con-ti-nen'tal  Army,  formed 123 

Continental  Congress 119,123 

adopts  Declaration  of  Independence  .     126,  127 

adopts  national  flag 130 

"  back  lands  "  given  to 145 

powers  of 146-148,  150 

Corn-wal'lis,  General,  invades  Virginia     141,  142 

surrenders 142 

Co-ro-na'do  (-fhd),  explorations  of   .     .      28,  231 

Cotton  gin  invented 175 

Cotton  industry  in  South 174,  175 

Cou-reurs'  de  bois  (deh  bwii'),  in  Canada  .     .    36 

Crazy  Horse,  Indian  chief 227 

Creek  Indians,  trade  with 88 

war  of 159 

Cu'ba,  discovered 11,  24 

rebellion  in 237,  238 

Spanish-American  War  in     .     .      238,  239,  241 

Cul'pep-er  Court  House 52 

Cum' ber-land,  Merrimac  destroys     .     .    .210 
Cus'ter,  General,  death  of 227 

Da'vis,  Jefferson,  President  of  Confederacy  .  193 

taken  prisoner 205 

Dec-la-rii'tion  of  Independence     .     .     .     126,127 

Deer'field,  massacre  at 95,  96 

De  Kalb',  in  Revolutionary  War      .     .     132,  139 

Del  'a-ware,  settlement  of 75,  79 

Den'ver,  settled 221 

Dg  So'to,  in  the  Southeast 29,  231 

De-troit',  fort  at 36 

Dew'ey,  Admiral,  in  battle  of  Manila    .     .     .  239 

sails  to  Philippines 238 

takes  Manila 242 

Din-wid'tfie,  Governor 102,  103 

District  of  Columbia,  formed    ....     150,  152 

Don 'el-son,  Fort,  taken 197 

Doug'las,  Stephen  A 190-193 

Do'ver,  massacre  at 93 


PAGE 

Du-luth',  founded 223 

Du-pont',  captures  Port  Royal 213 

Duquesne  (doo-kan'),  Fort 104,105 

Diis'tan,  Hannah,  captivity  of 95 

Dutch  settlers  in  New  Netherland    ....     74 
Dutch  West  India  Company 73,74 

East  India  Company,   sends  tea  to  Amer- 
ica   116,  118 

Ells'worth,  Chief  Justice,  at  Constitutional 

Convention 148 

E-man-ci-pa'tion  Proclamation     .     .     .     217,  218 

Em-bar  go,  the  long 155,  156 

England,  claims  part  of  America 44 

colonies  of 45-72,  76-92 

wars  with  France  in  America  ....  92-107 
wars  with  Holland  in  New  Netherland  .  .  76 
See  also  Great  Britain. 

English  settlers,  in  the  Carolinas 83 

in  Georgia 88 

in  Maryland 55 

in  New  England 56-72,  75 

in  Pennsylvania 78-80 

in  Virginia 45-54 

Er'ics-son,  Captain  John,  designs  Monitor  .  210 

E'rie  Canal,  built 171 

Erie,  Lake,  battle  of 156 

Fair'fax,  Lord,  and  Washington 103 

Far'ra-gut,  Flag  Officer,  captures  New  Or- 
leans     199,  213 

in  battle  of  Mobile  Bay 213 

Fil-i-pi"nos,  insurrection  of 242 

Fill 'more,  Millard,  President 193 

Flag,  national,  making  of 130 

F16r'i-da,  admitted  to  Union 178 

British  province 107,  111 

discovered 24 

joins  Confederacy 193 

Narvaez  in 25 

purchased  by  United  States 166 

Spain  regains 144,  145 

Foote,  Flag  Officer,  takes  Fort  Henry  .     198,  213 
Ford's  Theater,  Lincoln  murdered  in   .     .     .  216 

Fort  Am 'ster-dam,  built 73 

Fort  Don 'el-son,  taken 198 

Fort  Duquesne  (doo-kan') 104,105 

Fort  Good  Hope,  built 73 

Fort  Hen'ry,  Tennessee,  taken    .    .     .    198,  213 
Fort  Henry,  Virginia,  Indians  attack   .     .     .  136 

Fort  Leav'en-worth 181 

Fort  Le  Boeuf,  built 101 

Fort  Mar'i-on,  old  tower  of 110 

Fort  Mims,  massacre  at 159 


248 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Fort  Moul'trle,  Anderson  leaves 194 

British  attack 138 

Fort  Nas'sau,  built  ' 73 

Fort  Ne-ces'si-ty,  Washington  builds  .     .     .104 

Fort  Ni-ag'a-ra,  relief  sent  to 108 

Fort  Or'ange,  built  at  Albany 73,  76 

Fort  Pitt 105 

in  Pontiac's  War 108,  109 

Fort  St.  Lou'ls,  built 40,  41 

Fort  Sum 'ter 193-195 

Forts,  frontier 134,  135 

France,  gives  Louisiana  to  Spain      ....  107 

helps  United  States     ......  132,  133,  142 

interferes  with  American  trade      ....  155 

loses  American  possessions       .     .     .     106,  107 

naval  war  with  United  States 153 

regains  Louisiana,  and  sells  it  to   United 

States 164 

wars  with  England 92-107 

Frank'lin,  Benjamin        111-113 

at  Constitutional  Convention 148 

helps  frame  Declaration  of  Independence     127 

in  France 132 

opposes  Stamp  Act 112,  113 

signs  treaty  of  Paris 142 

Fred'er-icks-burg,  battle  of 201 

Fre-mont',  Captain,  in  California     .     .     .     .  1S1 

French,  hatred  of  Iroquois  for 34 

in  America 31-43,  92-107 

in  Mississippi  valley     ....      37-41,  98,  99 

in  Ohio  valley 100,  101,  103 

missionaries 34 

New  Orleans  founded  by 98 

on  the  Great  Lakes 37 

settle  in  Canada 35,  36 

French  and  English  Wars 92-107 

French  and  Indian  War       103-107 

Friends,  or  Quakers 78,  77 

Fron'tier  forts 134,  135 

Frontier  houses 166,  168 

Ful'ton,  Robert,  and  the  steamboat      .     .     .172 

Fur  trade,  in  Canada 35,  36 

in  New  Netherland       73 

Gads/den  Purchase 234 

Gage,  General 120,  121,  123 

Gar'field,  James  A.,  President 243 

Gar'ri-son,  William  Lloyd,  opposes  slavery     177 
Garrison  houses,  in  New  England    ....    65 

Gates,  General,  at  Saratoga 130 

#  in  South  Carolina 139 

Geor'gi-a,  founded 88,  89 

gives  "back  lands"  to  Congress   .    .    .    .145 
joins  Confederacy 193 


PAGE 

Ger'man  settlers 230 

in  Carolina 81,83 

in  Georgia 89 

in  Pennsylvania 81 

Ger 'man-town,  battle  of 130 

_  founded       80 

Ger'rish,  Sarah,  captivity  of 94 

Ger'ry,  Elbridge 148 

Get'ty§-burg,  battle  of 201 

Ghent,  treaty  of 160 

Gil'bert,  Humphrey,  death  of 44 

Glad'wyne 80 

Glbuces  'ter,  Fort  Nassau  built  at     ....     73 

Gold,  in  California 183-186,  220 

in  Colorado 220 

in  Montana 224,  227 

G6r'ge§,  Fer-di-nan  do,  proprietor  of  Maine      63 

Grant,  U-lys'se§  S iy7,  198 

campaign  against  Richmond 204 

Lee  surrenders  to 205 

Lieutenant  General 203 

President 219,  243 

takes  Fort  Donelson 198 

takes  Vicksburg 202 

Grasse,  Count  de,  at  Yorktown 142 

Gray,  Captain,  discovers  Columbia  River,  165,  179 
Great  Brit'ain,  assigns  land  to  Indians     .     .  Ill 

Boston  Port  Bill 119 

boundary  disputes  with 179,  180 

helps  Confederacy 207-209 

impresses  American  sailors  .     .     .     .     154,156 
in  French  and  Indian  War    ....      103-107 

in  War  of  Independence 120-142 

in  War  of  1812 156-160 

interferes  with  American  trade      ....  155 

pays  Civil  War  damages 209 

Stamp  Act 111-113,115 

surrenders  frontier  forts 1G3 

treaties  with 142.  1 60 

Greene,  General,  at  Valley  Forge      ....  181 

in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina 141 

Guam 234,  236,  242 

"Hail,  Columbia,"' written 152,153 

llai'ti,  Columbus  at 12 

Hale,  Nathan 128 

Half-faced  camps 166 

Half-Moon,  Hudson's  ship 72 

Ham'il-ton,    Alexander,    at    Constitutional 

Convention 148 

at  Valley  Forge 131 

Hamp'tou  Roads,  naval  battles  on   .     .     210-212 

Han'cock,  John,  at  Lexington 121 

Har'mar,  General,  in  Indian  war      ....  225 


INDEX 


249 


PAGE 

Har'ri-son,  Benjamin,  President 243 

Harrison,  William  H.,  at  Tippecanoe    .     .     .226 

in  battle  of  Thames  River 156 

President 1W 

Har'rod,  James 134 

Har'rods-burg 134 

Hart'ford,  Dutch  at 13 

English  found 61 

Ha-van'a,  blockaded 238 

captured  by  British 107 

Ha'ver-Aili,  massacres  at 94,  95 

Hii-wrti'ian  Islands 234,  236,  237 

Hayeg,  RiWer-ford  B.,  President    ....  243 

Hel'e-na,  founded 224 

Hen-ri'cus,  town  of 50 

Hen'ry,  Fort,  Tennessee,  taken  .  .  .  193,  213 
Henry,  Fort,  Virginia,  Indians  attack  .  .  .  136 
Henry,  Patrick,  Governor  of  Virginia  .     .     .137 

opposes  Stamp  Act 113,  114 

His-pan-io'la  (-yo  -),  discovered 12 

Hob'son,  Lieutenant  R.P 240 

II til'land,  founds  colony  in  America     .     .     72-75 

Pilgrims  sail  from 56 

wars  with  England 76 

Hon-du'ras,  Culumbus  discovers      ....    14 
Hook'er,  General,  commander  Army  of  Po- 
tomac  201 

Hooker,  Thomas,  founds  Hartford   ....     61 

House  of  Rep-re-sent'a-tives 149 

Howe,  General,  leaves  Boston 126 

takes  New  York 127 

IIM'son,  Henry,  voyage  of 72,  73 

Hudson  River,  discovered 73 

Hii'gwe-nots,  settle  in  Carolina 83 

Hu'ron,  Lake 34 

I'da-ho,  admitted  to  Union 229 

Il-li-nois',  admitted  to  Union 170 

Indian  war  in 226 

Im 'mi-grants  from  Old  World  .  .  .  229,  230 
Im-press'ment  of  American  sailors  .     .     154,155 

In-dent'ed  servants,  in  Virginia 49 

In-de-pend'ence,  Declaration  of   .     .     .     126,  127 

Independence,  Missouri 185 

In-di-iin'a,  admitted  to  Union 170 

Indian  reservations 227 

Indian  Territory 226 

Indian  wars 224-227 

in  Alabama  (Creek  War) 159 

in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee      .     .     .     135-138 

in  New  England 61-63,  93-97 

Pontiac's  War 107-109 

In'di-ang 16-23,  27,  224-227 

and  Pilgrims 59 


PAGK 

Indians,  and  William  Penn 79 

Great  Britain  assigns  land  to Ill 

sold  into  slavery 93 

villages  of 18,  22,  32 

In'dieg,  West,  named 14 

I'o-wa,  admitted  to  Union 186,  220 

Irish  settlers 81,  280 

Ironclads,  first  battle  of 210-212 

Ir-o-quois' 21 

defeated  on  Lake  Champlain      .     .     .     .   33,  34 

hatred  of,  for  French 34 

Is-a-bel'la,  Queen,  helps  Columbus  ....      8 
I-tal'ian  settlers 230 

Jack 'son,  Andrew 158-160 

at  battle  of  New  Orleans 160 

in  Indian  Wars 226 

President 177,  226 

Ja-nnu'ca,  discovered 13 

James'town,  settlement  of .     .     .      45,47,48,52 

Jiis'per,  William 138,  139 

Jay,  John,  signs  treaty  of  Paris 142 

Jay'hawk-ers,  in  Kansas 191 

Jef  fer-son,  Thomas,  President    .      155,  164,  177 

writes  Declaration  of  Independence  .     .     .  127 

John'son,  Andrew,  President.     .     .     .     216,243 

impeachment  of 217 

John'ston,  Joseph  E.,  at  Richmond     .     .    .  200 

in  Georgia 203 

surrenders  to  Sherman 205 

Joliet  (zho-le-a'),  explorations  of .     .     .     .    37-39 
Jo'seph,  Indian  chief 227 

Kiin'sas,  admitted  to  Union 223 

civil  war  in 191 

slavery  question  in 190,  191 

Spaniards  in 29 

territory  of 190 

Kas-kas'ki-a,  taken  by  Clark 137 

Kear'ny,  General,  in  Mexican  War  .     .     180,  181 
Kearsarge  (ker'sarj),  sinks  Alabama     .    .  209 

Ken-tuck'y,  admitted  to  Union 162 

emigration  to       161,  162 

frontier  life  in 135-138 

settled 134 

Key,  Francis  Scott 157,  158 

Kings  Mountain,  battle  of 141 

iTnox,  General,  at  Valley  Forge 131 

Kos-ci-us'ko,  in  Revolutionary  War     .     .     .  132 

La-drdnes/ 242 

La-fa-yette\  at  Mount  Vernon 143 

in  Revolutionary  War 152 

Lake  Cham-plain',  battle  of 156 


250 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Lake  E'rie,  battle  of 156 

La  Mile',  explorations  of    ...    .       3T,  39-41 

in  Texas 41 

Lau'rens,  John,  in  Revolutionary  "War  .  .  131 
Lead  plates,  French  claim  territory  with  100, 101 

Leav'en-worth 181,221 

Le-cornp'ton,  founded 191 

Lee,  Robert  E 200,  199 

at  Gettysburg 201 

surrenders  to  Grant 204 

Lee,  R.  H.,  in  Continental  Congress  .  .  .  126 
Leon'ard-son,  Samuel,  captivity  of  .     .     .     .95 

ZSop'ard,  fires  on  Chesapeake 154 

Lew'is,  Mer'i-weth-er,  explorations  of  .  .  165 
Lewis  and  Clark,  expedition  of    .     .     .     165,  179 

Lex'ing-ton,  battle  of 122,  123 

Liberty  Party,  organized 177 

lAn'eoln,  Abraham 167,  168 

calls  for  army 196,213 

debate  with  Douglas 191,  192 

elected  President 193 

Emancipation  Proclamation 217 

inaugurated 194 

murdered 216 

reelected 216 

Lincoln,  General,  at  Savannah 139 

Liv'er-pool,  blockade  running  business  at     .  207 
Liv'ing-ston,  Robert,   helps  frame  Declara- 
tion of  Independence 127 

Lo'co-mo-tives,  steam 172 

L6n'don  Company,  controls  Virginia   .     .    45,  54 

Look'out  Mountain,  battle  of 202 

Low'is-burg,  built  and  taken 99 

taken  again 105 

Lott-i'-si-a'na,  admitted  to  Union      .     .     .    .  170 

claimed  by  France 40 

ceded  to  Spain 107 

ceded  to  France 164 

joins  Confederacy 193 

purchased  by  United  States 164 

Lu.-zon',  insurrection  in       242 

McClel'lan,  General,  at  Antietam     ....  200 
commander  of  Army  of  Potomac  ....  197 

in  Peninsular  campaign 199 

McDbn'ough,  in  battle  of  Lake  Champlain   .  156 

Mack'i-nac,  Strait  of 36 

McKin'Iey,  William,  President 243 

Ma-com&',  General,  at  Plattsburg  ....  156 
Mad'i-son,  James,  President  ....  156,  177 
Ma-gel 'Ian,  discovers  Philippines      .     .     .     .239 

Mail  service,  in  far  West 221-223 

Maine,  admitted  to  Union 175,  176 

border  wars  in 97 


PAGE 

Maine,  bought  by  Massachusetts      ....    63 

boundary  dispute 179 

Maine,  destruction  of 238 

Man-hat'tan  Island,  purchased 73 

Ma-nil'a,  battle  of 239 

surrenders 242 

Mar'cos,  explorations  of 27,  28 

Ma-ri-et'ta,  settled 225 

Mar'i-on,  in  Revolutionary  War 139 

Marquette  (miir-ket'),  Father,  explorations 

of 37-59 

Mar'shall,  discovers  gold 183,  184 

Mar'thas  Vine'yard 77 

Ma'ry-land  (mer'-) 54,  55,  108 

Ma'son,  John,  proprietor  of  New  Hampshire     63 
Mas-sa-chu'setts,  charter  troubles    ...   90,  92 

English  colony 56-60 

gives  "  back  lands  "  to  Congress  ....  145 

opposes  Stamp  Act 115 

prepares  for  war 120 

Mas'sa-soit,  Indian  chief 59,  60 

May'flow-er,  voyage  of 57,  58 

Meade,  General,  at  Gettysburg 201 

Mem'phis,  surrendered 198 

Mer'i-on 80 

Mer'ri-mac 209,  210 

battle  with  Monitor 210  212 

destroyed  by  Confederates 212 

Mer'ritt,  General,  at  Manila     ....    239,  242 

Mex'i-can  War 180,  1S1 

Mich'i-gan,  admitted  to  Union 178 

MIle§,  General,  captures  Porto  Rico      .     241,  242 
Min-ne-so'ta,  admitted  to  Union      ....  223 

Mis'sion-a-ry  Ridge,  battle  of 203 

Mis-sis-sip 'pi,  admitted  to  Union     .     .     .     .170 

joins  Confederacy 193 

Mississippi  River,  discovered  .     .     .     .25,  37,  38 

life  and  trade  on 170 

Mis-s<m  ri,  admitted  to  Union      .    .     .     170,  176 

dispute  over  admission  of 175 

Missouri  Compromise,  adopted 176 

repealed 190 

Missouri  River,  explorers  on 165 

Mo-bile',  founded 41 

Mobile  Bay,  battle  of 213 

French  at 41,98 

Mo'doc  War 227 

Mon'i-tor,  battle  with  Merrimac    .    .     210-212 

lost  at  sea 212 

Mon 'mouth,  battle  of 133 

Mon-roe',  James,  President 177 

Mon-ta'na,  admitted  to  Union 229 

gold  in 224,227 

M6nt-ca7m',  General 106 


INDEX 


251 


PAGE 

Mon-ti-cel'lo,  Jefferson's  home 154 

Mont-re-al',  Cartier  at  site  of 32 

fur  trade  at 36 

taken  by  British 106 

Mor'mons,  in  Utah 1SS,  1S9 

Mor'ris,  Robert,  at  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion       148 

Mor'ris-town,  Washington  at 129 

Mor'ro  Castle 145 

Mqul'trie,  Colonel,  at  Charleston      .     .     .     .138 

Moultrie,  Fort 138,  193,  194 

Mount  Ver'non,  Washington's  home    .     .     .152 

Nar'berth 80 

Nar-vii'ez  (-eth),  seeks  for  gold     .     .     .     .   25,  26 

Nash'ville,  battle  of 203 

Nas'sau,  blockade  runners  at 207 

Natch 'ez,  taken  by  Spaniards 144 

Nii'va-jos  (-hoz) 227 

Ne-bras'ka,  admitted  to  Union 223 

territory  of 190 

Neff,  Mary,  captivity  of 95 

Ne'groeg,  after  emancipation    ....     218,  219 

See  also  Slavery. 
Neth'er-lands.     See  Holland. 

Ne-va'da,  admitted  to  Union 223 

New  England  colonies,  founded   ....    56-64 

life  in 64-72 

struggle  with  the  King     ......    90-92 

New 'found-land  fisheries 31 

New  Hamp'shire,  settled 63 

New  Ha'ven,  founded 61 

New  Jer'§ey>  English  colony 77 

New  Mex'i-co,  old  settlements  in     ....  188 

pueblos  of 22 

territory  formed 18S 

New  Neth'er-land,  Dutch  colony  .     .     .    .   74,75 

given  to  Duke  of  York 76 

taken  by  English .    76 

New  6r'le-ans,  battle  of 160 

British  attack 158-160 

Farragut  captures '    199,  213 

founded 41,  98,  99 

given  to  Spain 107 

New  Swe'den 75 

New  York,  English  colony 77 

gives  "back  lands"  to  Congress   .     .     .     .145 

New  York  city,  British  leave 142 

taken  by  British 127 

tea  ships  at 118 

Washington  inaugurated  in 150 

Ng?  Per  cgs  Indians 227 

Ni-ag'a-ra,  Fort 108 

Wi'nd,  Columbus's  ship 9,  12 


PAGB 

Nor'foZk  Navy  Yard,  burned 209 

North  Car-o-li'na,  colonial  life  in 84 

gives  "  back  lands  "  to  Congress   ....  145 

joins  Confederacy 196 

pirates  in 86 

North  Da-ko'ta,  admitted  to  Union  .     .     .     .229 

Lewis  and  Clark  in 165 

Northwest,  opened  to  civilization      .     .     223-227 

the  new 228-231 

Northwest  Territory 146 

lands  sold  to  settlers 162 

Nor-we'gi-an  settlers 230,  231 

No'va  Seo'tia  (.-shi-a) 97,  99 

Nug'ces  River 180 

Nul-li-fi-ca'tion  Act 187 

O'gle-thorp^,  James 87,  88 

O-hi'o,  admitted  to  Union 163 

Ohio  River,  life  and  trade  on 169 

Ohio  valley,  French  and  English  in    100,  101,  103 

"  Old  Colonv,"  Plymouth  called 63 

Old  North  Church 121 

Old  South  Meetinghouse 117 

O-lym'pi-a,  Dewey's  flagship 239 

O'ma-ha,  railroad  built  from 223 

On-ta'ri"-o,  Lake 34 

Oquendo  (o-ken'do),  wreck  of 240 

Or'e-gon,  admitted  to  Union 223 

boundary  dispute 179,  180 

Os-ce-o'la,  Indian  chief 226 

O'tis,  General,  in  Manila 242 

Ot'ta-wa 40 

Pa-cif  ic  railroads 223 

Pa'los,  Columbus  at 8,  9,  12 

Pam'li-co  Sound 206 

Pan-a-ma',  Istbmus  of,  discovered   ....    14 

Par 'is,  treaty  of 142 

Pas'cu.-ii  Flo-ri'da 24 

Pa-troon§' 74 

Pe-kin',  allied  armies  capture 243 

Pen-in'su-lar  Campaign  in  Civil  War    .    .     .  199 
Penn,  William,  proprietor  of  Pennsylvania  78,  80 

and  the  Indians 79 

buys  Delaware 79 

Penn-syl-va'ni-a,  backwoodsmen  of      .     .     .  108 

Scotch-Irish  settlers  in 81,  82 

settlement  of 78-82 

Pe-nob'scot  Bay 93 

Pen-sa-co'la,  taken  by  Spain 144 

Pe'quot  Indians,  war  with 61,  62 

Per'ry,  in  battle  of  Lake  Erie 156 

Pe'terg-burg,  siege  of 204 


252 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Phil-a-del'phi-a,  Congress  meets  in    119,  126,  152 

Constitutional  Convention  at 148 

founded 80 

tea  ships  at 116,118,119 

Phil'ip-pine  Islands 236,  239 

acquisition  of 234,  242 

insurrection  in 242 

Phil'ip,  Indian  king,  War  of 62,  63 

Pick'eng,  in  Revolutionary  War 139 

Pick'er-ing,  Colonel 121 

Pierce,  Franklin,  President 193 

Pikes  Peak 221 

Pil'grims,  and  the  Indians 59,  6T 

found  Plymouth 58 

sail  from  Holland 56 

Pin'td,  Columbus's  ship 9, 12 

Pinzon  (peen-thon')  deserts  Columbus.     .     .    12 

Pirates,  in  the  Bahamas 86 

in  the  Carolinas 84-87 

Pitts 'burg  (Fort  Pitt) 103,105,108 

Plains  of  Abraham,  battle  of  Quebec  on    105,  106 

Platte  River 186 

Platts'burg,  battle  of 156 

Plymouth,  added  to  Massachusetts      ...     63 

Pilgrims  settle 58 

Po-ca-hon'tas,  story  of 46,  47 

Pfiflc,  James  K.,  President  .     .     .      178,  ISO,  193 

Pon'ce  (-tha),  General  Miles  at 242 

Ponce  de  Leon  (da.  lu-6n'),  in  Florida  ...     24 

Pon'ti-ac's  War 107-109 

Pony  express,  in  the  far  West ....     221,  222 

Poor  Richard's  Almanac 112 

Por'ter,  on  the  Mississippi 213 

Port  IIM'son,  battle  of 202 

Port  Roy'al,  captured  by  Dupont     ....  213 
Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia,  captured  by  English      97 

Por'to  Ri'co 14,  24,  236 

acquisition  of 234,  242 

General  Miles  captures      .......  241 

Po-to'mac 199 

Pow-ha-tan',  Indian  chief 46 

Pra«'r?'e  du  Chien' 37 

Pres'cott,  Colonel,  at  Bunker  Hill    .     .     .     .124 

Presidents,  list  of 177,193,243 

Prov'i-dence,  founded 60 

Pueb'log  (pweb'-) 22,  28 

Pu'get  Sound 223 

Pu-las'ki,  death  of 139 

in  Revolutionary  War 132,  139 

Pu'ri-tans,  settle  Massachusetts 60 

Put'nam,  General  Israel,  at  Bunker  Hill  .     .  124 

Quak'ers,  or  Friends 77,  78 

Que-bec',  attacked  by  colonists 94 


PAGE 

Quebec,  fall  of 105,  106 

founded 33 

province  of Ill 

Rad'nor 80 

Railroads,  introduced 172 

Pacific,  built 223 

Ra'legh   (raw'ly),    Sir    Walter,    settlements 

"of 45 

Ha'\e\g7i,  Johnston  surrenders  at      ....  205 

Red  Cloud,  Indian  chief 227 

Re-demp'tion-ers,  in  Virginia 49.54 

Re-pub 'li-can  Party,  nominates  Lincoln    .     .  192 

Re-vere',  Paul,  ride  of 121,  122 

RAode  Island,  charter  troubles     .     .     .     .   91,  92 

colony  established 60 

Rich'mond,  Confederate  capital 196 

EI'5  Gn'in'de. 29,  180 

Ro-a-noke'  Island,  first  settlements  on  .  .  45 
Rob'ert-son,  James,  builds  frontier  fort  .  .  134 
Rolfe,  John,  marries  Pocahontas  ....  47 
Ro'se-crans,  General,  at  Chickamauga  .  .  .  202 
Ross,  Betsy,  makes  first  national  flag   .     .     .  ISO 

Sab'inHall 53 

Sac-ra-men'to,  pony  express  to  .  .  .  221,  222 
Sacramento  River,  settlement  on      ....  182 

St.  Au'giis-tine,  built 30 

St.  Clair',  General,  in  Indian  War  ....  225 
St.  Law'rence  River,  Cartier  discovers      .     .    32 

St.  Low- 'is 37 

St.  Mu'ryg,  founded 54,  55 

Sa'lem,  British  at 120 

founded 60 

Salt  Lake  City,  built 189 

Sam'o-set,  Indian  chief 59 

Samp'son,  Rear  Admiral,  blockades  Havana    238 

blockades  Santiago 240 

San  Juan  (hoo-an-') 242 

San  Siil-va-dor' 11 

San'tii  Fe,  founded 30 

Kearney  captures 181 

Sdn'ld  Md-r'i'd,  Columbus's  ship  .  .  .  9,  12 
San-ti-a*go  d§  Cu'bii,  battle  of 240 

blockaded 239 

surrender  of 241 

Sar-a-to'ga,  battle  of 130 

Sault  Ste.  (sent)  Ma'ria 37 

Sa-van'nah,  British  capture      ....      138-140 

founded 88 

Sherman  at 203 

Schley,  Commodore,  at  Santiago  ....  240 
SeAuyl'kill  River,  Welsh  settlers  on  ...  80 
Scotch  High'land-ers,  in  Carolina     ....     83 


INDEX 


253 


PAGE 

Scotch  Highlanders,  in  Georgia 89 

Scotch-Irish  settlers 81 

Scott,  General,  in  Mexican  War  .     .     .    180,  181 
Se-ces'sion,  of  Southern  States    .     .     .     193,  196 

Secession,  question  of 187 

Semmeg,  Captain  Eaphael 208 

Sen'ate 149 

Se-v«er',  John,  builds  frontier  fort   ....  134 

Sew'ard,  Secretary,  attacked 216 

Shaf  ter,  General,  in  Cuba 240 

Shan'non,  captures  Che$ct]>eake     ....  157 

Shen-an-do'ah 199 

Sher'man,  Roger,  helps  frame  Declaration  of 

Independence  127 

Sherman,  William  T.,  march  to  the  sea    203,  204 

Johnston  surrenders  to 205 

ShI'loh,  battle  of 198 

Sho-sho'nees 227 

S'i-er'ra  NG-va'da 186 

Sioux  wars 227 

Slav'er-y 174-178 

abolished  in  North 174 

abolished  in  United  States    ....     215-219 

proposed  in  California 186,  187 

struggle  for,  in  Kansas 190,  191 

Slaves,  emancipated 217 

in  Virginia 49,  54 

Smith,  Captain  John,  at  Jamestown     .     .   45,  46 
Smith,  Joseph,  founds  Mormon  sect    .     .     .  188 

South  Ciir-o-li'na,  colonial  life  in 84 

gives  "  back  lands  "  to  Congress  .     .     .     .145 

federal  property  in 193,  194 

joins  Confederacy 193 

Nullification  Act  of 187 

pirates  expelled  from 85 

South  Company  formed 75 

South  Da-ko'ta,  admitted  to  Union  ....  229 

Southern  States,  cotton  industry  in       .     174,  175 

denied  representation  in  Congress     .    216,  217 

reconstruction  of 216,  217 

secession  of 193,  196 

tobacco  cultivation  in 48,  50 

Spain,  border  trouble  with 163 

cruelty  to  Cubans 238 

cedes  Louisiana  to  France 164 

claims  in  our  country 30,  138 

loses  Florida 107 

receives  Louisiana 107 

regains  Florida 144,  145 

sells  Florida  to  United  States 166 

war  with  United  States 238-242 

Spaniards  (-yerdz),  in  New  World  .     .     .    24-30 

Spanish-American  War 238-242 

Spotted  Tail,  Indian  chief 227 


PAGE 

Squan'to,  Indian  friend  of  Pilgrims  ...   59,  67 

Stamp  Act 111-115 

Stamp  Act  Congress 115 

Stand'ish,  Captain  Miles 58 

"Star-Spangled  Banner,"  written    .     .     157,158 

Starved  Rock 40 

Steamboats,  first  successful     ....    171,  172 
Ste'phens  (-venz),  Alexander  H.,  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  Confederacy 193 

Steu'ben,  Baron,  at  Valley  Forge     .     .     131,  132 
Stock'ton,  Commodore,  in  California    .     .     .  181 

Ston'ing-ton 62 

Stony  Point,  Wayne  takes 134 

Stwy've-sant,  Peter 75,  76 

Sum 'ter,  in  Revolutionary  War 139 

Sumter,  Fort,  Anderson  at      ....     193-195 

siege  and  fall  of 194,  195 

Sut'ter,  Captain  J.  A 182-184 

Sutter's  Fort 182,  184 

Swedish  settlers,  in  Delaware 75 

in  the  West 230,231 

Swiss  settlers,  in  Carolina 83 

Tax-a'tion,  of  the  colonies 111-119 

under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  .     .     .147 

under  the  Constitution 149 

Tay'lor,  Zachary,  in  Mexican  War   .     .     .     .180 

President 193 

Tea  Party,  Boston       118 

Tea  ships 116-118 

Te-cum'seh,  Indian  chief 225,  226 

Ten-nes-see',  admitted  to  Union       .     .     .     .162 

emigration  into 161 

frontier  life  in 135-138 

joins  Confederacy 196 

settled 134 

Ter're  Haute  (hot) .37 

Tex'as,  admitted  to  Union  ...      178,  180,  220 

Indians  of 27 

joins  Confederacy 193 

settled 178 

Vaca  in 26 

Thames  (temz)  River,  battle  of    .     .     .     156,  226 

Thatch,  Robert,  pirate 88,  87 

TAom'as,  George  II.,  at  Chickamauga  .     .     .  202 

at  Nashville 203 

Ti-en'tsin,  captured 243 

Tip-pe-ca-noe',  battle  of 226 

To-bac'co,  cultivation  of  in  South     .     .     .48,  50 

Indians  raise 18 

Tobacco  plantations,  in  Maryland     ....     55 

in  Virginia 50 

To-pG'ka,  founded 191 

To-raT,  General,  surrenders  Santiago   .     .     .241 


254 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Travel,  facilities  for 146,  171,  172 

Treaty,  of  America 85 

of  Ghent 160 

of  Paris 142 

Spanish-American 242 

Tren 'ton,  battle  of 129 

Turks,  interfere  with  Eastern  trade      ...      7 
Ty'ler,  John,  President 177,  178 

United  States,  growth  232-236, 164, 166, 178, 181 
occupations  of  people 146,231 

U'tah,  admitted  to  Union 229 

Mormons  in 188,  189 

territory  formed 188 

Va'ca,  in  Texas 26 

reaches  Gulf  of  California 27 

Val'ley  Forge,  American  Army  at    .     .     130-132 

Van  Bu'ren,  Martin,  President 177 

Ver-mont',  admitted  to  Union 162 

Ves-puc'ci  (-poot'chee),  A-mg-ri'go,  America 

named  for 14 

Vicks'burg,  fall  of 202 

Vin-cennes/ 37,  137 

battle  at 13S 

surrender  of 137 

Vir-gin'i-a,  backwoodsmen  of 10S 

colony  of 45-54 

divided 196 

first  slaves  brought  to 49 

gives  "  back  lands  "  to  Congress   ....  145 

indented  servants  in 49 

joins  Confederacy 196 

opposes  Stamp  Act 114,115 

women  sent  to 49 

Wadg'worth,     Captain,    hides     Connecticut 

charter 91 

Wam'pum,  uses  of 19,  20 

War,  Civil 193-213 

Creek  Indian 159 

French  and  Indian 103-107,  220 

King  George's 99 

King  Philip's 62,  63 

King  William's 92-95 

Mexican 180,  181 

Modoc 227 

naval,  with  France 153 


PAGE 

War,  of  1812 156-160 

Pequot 61 

Pontiac's 107-109 

Sioux 227 

Spanish-American 23S-242 

Wash'ing-ton,  admitted  to  Union    .     .    .    .229 

Washington,  George 102,  103 

at  Constitutional  Convention 148 

in  French  and  Indian  War   ....     103-105 
in  Revolutionary  War       ....  124-133,  142 

President 150,'  177 

recalled  to  command  of  army 152 

Washington  city,  British  burn 157 

founded       152 

Wa-tau'ga  River 134 

Wayne,  Anthony,  in  Indian  war  .     .     .     163,225 

takes  Stony  Point 134 

Web'ster,  Daniel,  debate  with  Calhoun    .     .  187 
Welsh  Bar'o-ny,  in  Pennsylvania     ....     SO 

Welsh  settlers  in  Pennsylvania 80 

West,  great  migrations  to 220 

mail  service  in 221-223 

settlement  of 220-227 

West  India  Company 73,  74 

West  In'dtG§,  explorations  in       24 

West  Point,  in  Revolution       ....    140,  141 
West  Virginia,  admitted  to  Union    .     .     .     .223 

formation  of    . 196 

Wheat  growing  in  the  West    .     .      224,  229,  230 
Whit'ney,  Eli,  invents  cotton  gin     ...     .  175 

Wilderness,  battle  of  the 204 

Wil'liams,  John,  captivity  of 96,  97 

Williams,  Roger,  founds  Rhode  Island      .     .     60 

prevents  union  of  Indian  tribes    ....     61 

Wil'ming-ton,  blockade  runners  at  ...     .  207 

Win 'throp,  Governor  John 70 

Wis-con'sin,  admitted  to  Union 186 

Indian  War  in 226 

Wolfe,  death  of 106 

takes  Quebec 105 

Wy-o'ming,  admitted  to  Union 229 

"  Yan'kee  Doo'dle,"  national  song  ....  153 

York'town,  battle  of .  142 

McClellan  captures 199 

Zane,  Elizabeth 136 

Zii'ni  Indians 22,  23,  28,  227 


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Clarke's  Story  of  Ulysses     . 
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State  and   Local.  History 


The  public  schools  should  be  nurseries  of  civic  virtue. 
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BROOKS'S  (E.  S.)  STORIES  OF  THE  OLD  BAY  STATE 
COOKE'S  (J.  E.)  STORIES  OF  THE  OLD   DOMINION 
HARRIS'S  (J.  C.)  STORIES   OF  GEORGIA 
HOWELLS'S  (W.  D.)  STORIES  OF  OHIO 
KINKEAD'S(E.  S.)   HISTORY  OF  KENTUCKY  . 
McGEE'S  (G.  R.)  HISTORY  OF  TENNESSEE    . 
MUSICK'S  (J.  R.)  STORIES  OF  MISSOURI      . 
RHOADES'S  (L.  I.)  STORY  OF  PHILADELPHIA 
SMITHEY'S  (R.  B.)  HISTORY  OF  VIRGINIA      . 
STOCKTON'S  (FRANK  R.)  STORIES  OF  NEW  JERSEY 
SWETT'S  (SOPHIE)  STORIES  OF  MAINE 
THOMPSON'S  (MAURICE)  STORIES  OF  INDIANA  . 
THWAITES'S  (R.  G.)  STORIES  OF  THE  BADGER  STATE 
TODD'S  (C.  B.)  HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 
WALTON    (J.  S.)  AND  BRUMBAUGH'S  (M.  G.)  STORIES  OF 
PENNSYLVANIA 


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